[1] It is naturalized in parts of Eastern North America, the Middle East, Spain, Argentina, Australia and the Pacific islands.

[2] Common names include golden crownbeard,[3] cowpen daisy, gold weed, wild sunflower,[4] butter daisy, crown-beard, American dogweed,[5] and the Spanish Añil del Muerto ("indigo of the dead").

[6] Golden crownbeard is a summer annual with blooms resembling small sunflowers and distinctive flattened seeds.

Like sunflowers, it produces allelopathic chemicals that slow the growth of other susceptible plant species.

Research has identified an allelopathic effect on radishes[7] which may explain its ability to dominate other species in some locations.