|
| Amsinckia menziesii |
| Family: Boraginaceae (Borage) |
| Flowers — color: yellow, size: 1/8", type: 5 petals |
This bright yellow flower flares open like a trumpet about 1/8" wide. Each of the five petals is tinged with orange at the throat of the flower. Detail shows the inner parts are yellow.
The flower cluster is a linear array where the growing tip curls sharply. This resembles the head of a violin, hence the common name. Botanists call this form a helicoid cyme, and it is typical for the Borage family. Seedpods below the current blooms will produce food for the local birds.
Habit:
Bright yellow flowers in a clump of grass drew me to my first Common Fiddleneck specimen. It was a single stem just four inches high. I found a group of fiddlenecks eight inches high growing in a different part of the reserve. Feeling around, I discovered they all attached to a thick stem lying along the ground beneath the grass. Later, I found a plant with half a dozen three foot long stems. Quite a difference.
Common Fiddleneck is an annual herb having great variability. The flowers self-pollinate, so colonies in differrent environments may diverge genetically. The leaves are lance-shaped, up to several inches long. Both stems and leaf edges are covered in fine hairs. Larger specimens will branch frequently, but the stems are not always strong enough to support their weight.