Arctotheca calendula

Capeweed, Capeweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Capeweed is a naturalized perennial found in coastal areas of the northern and central California Coast, occurring in disturbed habitats at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from March to August, this plant produces distinctive pale yellow ray flowers with a darker yellow band, arranged in large flower heads 2 to 4 centimeters in diameter. Growing with low-spreading stems, it forms distinctive rosettes that create dense ground cover in coastal regions. Its leaves cluster in basal rosettes, becoming sparse on older plants, with ray flowers ranging from 6 to 13 in number. The fruit is densely covered in purple to brown woolly hairs, creating a distinctive textural appearance that helps distinguish this non-native species.

Habitat: Disturbed coastal areas

Bloom period: Mar-Aug

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SCoRO

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.