Oncosiphon sabulosus flowerheads
Author: Ivan Lätti
Photographer: Thabo Maphisa
The flowerheads of Oncosiphon sabulosus grow in few-flowered, stalked clusters at stem-tips in corymb formation. These compact, yellow heads are discoid, dome-shaped and replete with tiny, four-lobed, tubular florets. The heads are subtended by several rows of green bracts, their margins narrow and membranous.
Flowering normally happens from spring to early autumn, the photo taken in May.
The fruits are flask-shaped and four-ribbed, their pappuses consisting of small teeth (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Kolokoto, R and AR Magee (2018): Cape stinkweeds: Taxonomy of Oncosiphon. SA Journal of Botany, pp 57 – 70; iNaturalist; https://www.fernkloof.org.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).