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DESCRIPTION:
Fiddlenecks are hairy, single or few-stemmed winter annuals that form distinctive flowering heads
curled like the neck of a fiddle. They are toxic to animals. Seedlings have "Y" shaped cotyledons
(seed leaves) with tiny blisters and a few fine hairs. Early leaves have coarse, sharp hairs and are four to six times
as long as they are wide. Mature plants may reach 3.5 feet (105 cm). Leaves are lance-shaped, coarse to the
touch, hairy, and alternate on the stem. The plant produces yellow, funnel-shaped, five-lobed flowers
on one side of a curled flower spike. At maturity, the four-lobed fruit breaks apart into four
one-seeded nutlets. Coast fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia, shown in the photos here)
and common fiddleneck (A. Douglasiana) are very similar, but coast fiddleneck has gray nutlets while
common fiddleneck has brown or black nutlets.
Broadleaf ID illustration.
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