Plants are damaged by frosts a few degrees below freezing and are killed by colder temperatures. Escaped populations are uncommon. North Coast, San Francisco Bay region. The biology of capeweed is poorly understood. Seeds disperse with human activities, animals, and probably wind.
Seedlings tolerate dry conditions.
In pastures, mowing and close grazing can increase the ratio of capeweed to desirable vegetation. Shallow cultivation can eliminate seedlings. Unlike capeweed , cape marigold has phyllaries in 1 row , flowers that lack a pappus, smooth and tubercled achenes without woolly hairs , foliage covered with glandular hairs , and leaves that lack a dense covering of white woolly hairs . Cape marigold occurs along roadsides and in disturbed areas of the San Joaquin Valley, western South Coast Ranges, South Coast, and Peninsular Ranges. Introduced from South Africa.