Elephantopus mollis Kunth

Australia: In Queensland the species flowers mainly in May but can flower throughout the year.
Brazil: In the South-East region, Elephantopus mollis flowers and fruits from spring to autumn.
Mayotte: Elephantopus mollis flowers and fruits all year round.
Nicaragua: Elephantopus mollis flowers and fruits from December to March.
New Caledonia: Germination of Elephantopus mollis can occur at any time of year if humid conditions allow it. It usually occurs at the beginning of the rainy season, followed by the flowering. Seedlings grow as pseudo-rosette.

Elephantopus mollis can easily be confused with E. scaber L. which is distinguished by its leaves in persistent basal rosette and its involucre of densely pilose bracts and purple to pink flowers (absent from Reunion and Mauritius but present in Madagascar).

Elephantopus mollis prefers fertile soils and annual rainfall greater than 1400 mm.

Central Africa: Elephantopus mollis is a species of savannah, fallow land, roadsides, ruderal areas and forest edges.
Comoros: Common species observed in the 3 islands, at low and medium altitude, on sandy clay soil.
French Guiana: Ruderal plant mainly observed in gardens. Quite rare in agricultural plots.
Madagascar: Elephantopus mollis develops on ferralitic soil rich enough of organic matter, under humid climate at different altitudes and subhumid altitude (=highlands of Madagascar) in region disturbed by human activities. E. mollis invades pastures, fallow and rice planted directly on slash and burn (tavy)) and perennial crops, cassava cultivation of two-year cycle in extensive farming systems. It is also common in the undergrowth. Central Highlands and the wet eastern slope.
West Indies: Elephantopus mollis is a ruderal species of cool soils, wet slopes, gardens, roadsides, from 0 to 600 m altitude.
Mauritius: Absent.
Mayotte: E. mollis is naturalized in a wide range of open or secondarized environments. It grows from the coastline to hygrophilous habitats in degraded forest, in crops and in urban areas.
Reunion: Species frequent in humid undergrowth, but infrequent in agricultural plots.

Global harmfulness

Elephantopus mollis is one of the 300 major invasive species in Oceania, the Indian Ocean and tropical Australia, where it is becoming a plague on permanent pastures.

Local harmfulness
 
Madagascar: Elephantopus mollis invades pastures, fallow and perennial or long cycle crops; young plants grow more or less hidden by other weeds. E. mollis develops gradually, sometimes dense and quickly limits the productivity of pastures or crops.
Mauritius: Absent.
Mayotte: Elephantopus mollis is a weed that develops mainly in ylang and food crops. It can also be found in pineapple crops. It is present in 12% of cultivated plots, mainly in the dry zone of the south of the island, but it can also be found in the center of the island.
New Caledonia: E. mollis was introduced in New Caledonia in the early 19th century. It is very competitive, with seeds having the ability to germinate even under a dense and thick pasture such as Brachiaria. The young stands are capable of stifling forage species.
Reunion: common species along roads and forest trails at low and medium altitudes especially in the humid regions of the island.
 

Biological control

A Tephritid, Tetreuaresta obscuriventris originating in the Caribbean zone was introduced in Fiji to control Elephantopus mollis, it was established and spread in Tonga. It was introduced to Hawaii in 1961 where it is well established but its effectiveness is unclear.

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Elephantopus%2520mollis