This annual plant with a strictly Mediterranean distribution is present in Liguria, and in almost all the regions of Central, Southern and Insular Italy (missing in the Marche and no longer observed since a long time in Abruzzo). It grows in dry meadows and uncultivated ground, on mainly siliceous substrates, from sea level to about 1300 m, with optimum in the Mediterranean belt. The species sporadically appears along the edges of the Sardinian temporary ponds. The genus name derives from the Greek 'tolypé' (ball, bullet) for the bulging shape of the head; the species name refers to the arrangement of the heads on the stem, which simulate an umbel with 3 rays. Flowering period: April to June.

Italian name(s): Radicchio ombrellato (Italia), Tolpis ombrellata (Italia).