Arctotheca calendula

Arctotheca calendula is a plant in the sunflower family commonly known as capeweed,[2] plain treasureflower,[3] cape dandelion, or cape marigold because it originates from the Cape Province in South Africa.[4][5] It is also found in neighboring KwaZulu-Natal.[6]

Arctotheca calendula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Arctotheca
Species:	A. calendula
Binomial name
Arctotheca calendula (L.) Levyns
Synonyms[1]
Synonymy Alloiozonium arctotideum Kunze Arctotheca calendulacea (L.) K.Lewin Arctotheca calendulaceum K.Lewin Arctotis calendula L. Arctotis calendulacea L. Arctotis hypochondriaca Willd. Arctotis speciosa Salisb. Arctotis sulphurea Gaertn. Arctotis superba L. Arctotis tristis L. Cryptostemma calendula (L.) Druce Cryptostemma calendulaceum (L.) R.Br. Cryptostemma hypochondriacum R.Br. Cryptostemma runcinatum R.Br. Cryptostemma triste (L.) Domin Cynotis hypochondriaca Hoffmanns

Arctotheca calendula is naturalized in California, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand, and considered a noxious weed in some of those places.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Arctotheca calendula is a squat perennial or annual which grows in rosettes and sends out stolons and can spread across the ground quickly. The leaves are covered with white woolly hairs, especially on their undersides. The leaves are lobed or deeply toothed. Hairy stems bear daisy-like flowers with small yellow petals that sometimes have a green or purple tint surrounded by white or yellow ray petals extending further out from the flower centers. It is cultivated as an attractive ornamental groundcover but has invasive potential when introduced to a new area. The plant can reproduce vegetatively or via seed. Seed-bearing plants are most likely to become weedy, taking hold most easily in bare or sparsely vegetated soil or disturbed areas.[15]