Invasive Plants in Pakistan: Remove Lantana and Paper Mulberry
The two invasive plants in Pakistan most worth pulling out of a home garden are lantana and paper mulberry (jangli toot). Lantana is poisonous to livestock, pets and children and seeds itself everywhere; paper mulberry suckers from its roots and fills spring air with allergy causing pollen.
The short version
- Lantana: pretty, tough, and toxic in leaves, flowers, berries and sap. Birds eat the berries and drop seeds in the next plot.
- Paper mulberry: fast, shallow rooted, spreads by root suckers. Male trees shed heavy pollen.
- Best removal time: after monsoon rain softens the soil, roughly late August to October on the plains, or late winter.
- Wear: full sleeves, gloves, closed shoes. Lantana sap can irritate skin.
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Why are lantana and paper mulberry a problem?
NC State Extension notes that lantana contains compounds called lantadenes in its leaves, flowers, fruit and sap. Eating it can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and weakness in people, and cattle, goats, sheep and horses can suffer liver damage. Cats, dogs and children are on the risk list too. The glossy blue black berries look like food to a toddler.
Paper mulberry is a different nuisance. The same extension service calls it invasive and says it spreads aggressively from root suckers, has shallow roots that can topple in storms, and that pollen from male trees can trigger allergies. Islamabad’s spring pollen season is the famous example; our pollen calendar explains the timing.
Remove, keep or swap? The decision table by city
| Plant | Karachi, coastal | Multan, Sukkur, Bahawalpur | Lahore, Delhi, Islamabad, Peshawar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lantana hedge | Remove: grows year round, berries all season | Remove if children or animals graze nearby | Remove; frost knocks it back but it regrows |
| Lantana in a single pot, flowers deadheaded | Maybe, high and away from pets | Maybe | Maybe |
| Young paper mulberry | Remove | Remove | Remove now, before it suckers |
| Mature paper mulberry near the house | Get a tree cutter | Get a tree cutter | Get a tree cutter, then pull suckers for a year |
| Conocarpus | Not invasive in the same way, but swap for a native | Swap | Swap |
How do you recognise them?
Lantana is a scrambling shrub with rough, toothed leaves that smell sharp when crushed, square ish stems with small hooked prickles, and flat clusters of tiny flowers that change colour as they age, often yellow to orange to pink on the same head. Paper mulberry has soft, fuzzy leaves in odd shapes on one tree: some heart shaped, some deeply lobed like a mitten. Young shoots feel velvety, and a broken twig bleeds milky sap. Male trees carry long dangling catkins in spring; females carry round, spiky orange red fruit.
What should you plant instead?
- Lantana hedge to a native flowering shrub your nursery confirms is non toxic, or to a mixed hedge of hibiscus where water allows.
- Lantana for butterflies to marigold, zinnia and native flowering herbs in season.
- Paper mulberry for quick shade to neem, sukh chain or amaltas; see our guide to native trees to plant in Pakistan.
- Thorny wild growth on a boundary to a pruned native hedge.
How do you pull out lantana for good?
- Soak the soil the evening before so roots come out whole.
- Put on gloves and long sleeves. Cut the top growth back to knee height with loppers.
- Dig around the woody crown with a spade or khurpa and lever it out. Cut any thick root and pull it; small root pieces left behind can resprout.
- Bag all berries. Do not compost fruiting stems, and do not leave them where birds or goats can reach.
- Check the spot every few weeks for a year and pull seedlings while they are small.
- Wash hands and arms with soap afterwards.
How do you get rid of paper mulberry?
- Pull seedlings and suckers by hand while they are under knee height; they come out easily after rain.
- For a sapling, dig out the main root along with any side roots you can follow.
- A mature tree near walls or wires needs a professional cutter. Cutting the trunk alone usually triggers a flush of suckers.
- For a year after felling, snap off every sucker as it appears. Each one you remove weakens the root system.
Mark the suckers with a stick
After felling paper mulberry, push a short bamboo stick next to each sucker you pull. Within a month you will see which patch keeps coming back, and that is where the biggest surviving root lies. Dig there.
Once the ground is clear, fill it quickly with something you want, or the next weed takes over. Our first five kitchen garden plants make a good start, and the potting mix guide helps if you switch to pots. More plant guides live in Phool aur Paudhe.
If a child eats lantana berries or leaves, or a pet or goat chews the plant, get medical or vet help without waiting for symptoms. Weedkiller is a last resort; if you use one, read the whole label, wear gloves, eye protection and a mask, never spray near food plants, water tanks or where children play, and keep animals off until it dries. People with asthma or pollen allergy should not cut flowering paper mulberry themselves in spring.
Invasive plants in Pakistan: questions people ask
Which invasive plants in Pakistan should I remove from my garden?
Lantana and paper mulberry are the two most common in home gardens. Parthenium (gajar booti) on vacant plots is another to pull with gloves.
Is lantana poisonous to humans?
Yes. Eating the leaves or berries can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and weakness, and the leaves can irritate skin.
Is lantana poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes. NC State Extension lists cats and dogs among the animals at risk.
Why is paper mulberry bad?
It spreads through root suckers, crowds out other plants, has shallow roots that can fall in storms, and male trees release allergy causing pollen.
Can I keep lantana in a pot?
You can, if you keep it away from children and animals and cut off the berries before they ripen so birds cannot spread them.
Will cutting paper mulberry kill it?
Usually not. It resprouts from the stump and roots, so pull suckers for at least a year after cutting.
Is shahtoot the same as paper mulberry?
No. Shahtoot is the fruiting mulberry; paper mulberry is a different tree whose fruit is not the one sold in markets.
What is the best time to remove invasive plants?
When the soil is soft after rain, before the plant sets seed. On the plains that is late monsoon or late winter.