[2][5] Centipeda is from the Greek word for one hundred feet[6] The epithet cunninghamii honours Allan Cunningham (1791 – 1839), an English botanist and explorer, who collected the specimen in Candolle's first description,[2][3] and who is primarily known for his travels to Australia (New South Wales) and New Zealand to collect plants and author of Florae Insularum Novae Zelandiae Precursor, 1837-40 (Introduction to the flora of New Zealand).

[6] Centipeda cunninghamii is an erect or ascending, endemic Australian perennial herb of the Daisy family (Asteraceae), glabrous or rarely woolly, about 20 cm (8 inches) high; stems much-branched.

[7] September - February[6] Fruiting: October - June[6] Distribution and occurrence: Usually grows in damp areas subject to flooding, on a range of soil types.

[7] New South Wales subdivisions: CC, SC, NT, CT, ST, NWS, CWS, SWS, NWP, SWP, NFWP, SFWP[7] Other Australian states: Qld Vic.

Especially common in muddy or silty ground left by receding waters along lake, pond, stream and river margins.

Also in muddy hollows within rough pasture, paddocks, tussock grassland, in damp depressions within dune swales and sometimes in similar sites within urban areas.

In cases of oral ingestion, traditional medicinal authorities have cautioned to carefully regulate the dosage as the plant may be toxic if taken in large amounts.