Ursinia calenduliflora is an annual with a short lifespan, it germinates, grows, flowers, seeds and dies in a period of about six months.  Annuals have evolved to survive in harsh environments where only part of the year has conditions suitable for growth or where they have to take advantage of short and/or variable periods of rain in an arid environment.  Their strategy is to grow fast and set seed while they can and survive the inhospitable part of the year as dormant seeds. To take advantage of the short-lived resources, annuals have to be able to germinate fast, and grow and produce flowers fast and to produce a lot of seeds. This species is from a semi-arid, winter-rainfall area.  It germinates with the first rains in autumn, grows during winter and flowers in late winter and spring. The seeds lie dormant during the hot, dry summer period until conditions become favourable for germination and growth return.

Members of the daisy family all have a pappus. This is the modified calyx or sepals, the part of the flower that surrounds the corolla, or petals.  The pappus persists after pollination and is attached to the seed. The pappus can be bristly, or feathery, or scaly and usually enables some sort of dispersal of the seed. In Ursinia the pappus is a whorl of papery, petal-like bracts that looks like a tiny flower, and acts like a parachute and helps disperse the seed by carrying it in the wind.  The seeds also have a tuft of silky hairs at the other end, which allows them to attach to a rough surface, such as sand.

The flowers attract many insects, such as flies, bees and beetles. The main pollinator is the Bee Fly, Megapalpus capensis.  Ursinia calenduliflora has two kinds of flowers that often occur in the same geographical area. Flowers are either plain orange or they have pronounced dark red rings with dark spots at the base of the ray petals. The dark spots attract the Bee Flies that are searching for mates and are fooled by the dark spots thinking they are females. While searching for the non-existent mates, they pick up pollen and transfer it to other flowers, and this enables the plants to set more seed.  However, the dark spots also attract certain flower-eating insects that damage the flowers, resulting in fewer seeds.  Having both flower forms is a trade-off for this species.