Pteronia viscosa flowerheads

The flowers of the gombos are sticky as the common name and also the specific epithet of Pteronia viscosa indicate.

The flowerheads grow solitary at branch ends, about 1 cm in diameter. There are no ray florets as is the case in general for the genus of about 80 species. The central or disc florets are a bright yellow. They exude a custard-like fragrance.

The stickiness referred to occurs on the green involucre, where rows of pointed involucral bracts overlap, forming the narrow cylindrical base of the head.

The bristles on the fruit pappuses are fused at the base in a ring (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; JSTOR).