Once the Othonna lobata fruiting has progressed, the barbed bristles protrude far above the row of still green and smooth involucral bracts that clutch them tightly.

The long and fine bristles are beige and white-tipped, the heads appearing like little yard brooms. The green flowerhead involucres are smooth, widest at the base where the bracts are united, before forming the abrupt, nearly flat end around the stalk (Smith, et al, 2017).