This annual plant with a strictly Mediterranean distribution is present in many regions of Central, Southern and Insular Italy (missing in Umbria and Molise, of doubtful occurrence in the Marche and Calabria); in the past it had also been reported from Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, where, however, it has not been observed again since a long time. The life-cycle can be spent part in water, part on moist to dry soil. It grows in moist places, along ditches and the edges of temporary pools, from sea level to about 800 m. This characteristic species of the Sardinian temporary ponds is rare in the central and intermediate belts. Flowers and other aerial parts of some species were once used against fleas and insects in general, from which the genus name, which derives from the Latin 'pulex' (flea); the species name refers to Sicily, from which the species was originally described. Flowering period: July to October.

Italian name(s): Incensaria siciliana (Italia), Pulicaria sicula (Italia).