The flowers of the gombos are sticky as the common name and also the specific epithet of Pteronia viscosa indicate. The flowerheads are 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 calyx where dense rows of pointed involucral bracts form a narrow cylindrical base. The bristles on the seeds are fused at the base in a ring (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; JSTOR).