Plant Image
Flower stalk
Hwy 97 - Sue Smith


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Amsinckia menziesii - Menzies' fiddleneck

Synonyms: Amsinckia hispidissima
Other Common Names: small flowered fiddleneck
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Boraginaceae


   
 
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Flower stalk
Hwy 97
Sue Smith
Leaves and stem
Hwy 97
Sue Smith
Plant - summer
Hwy 97
Sue Smith
Stem
Hwy 97
Sue Smith
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Annual
General Desc: An upright plant with long, narrow leaves, bristly hairs covering leaves and stems. The small, yellow to yellowish-orange flowers are tubular atop a flower spike coiled in a manner resembling the neck of a fiddle, thus its common name fiddleneck.
Identification notes: Unbranched stems covered with long, white, firm, bristly hairs; flowers 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, 1/16 to 1/8 inch wide, yellow to yellowish-orange, petals fused into a tube for most of their length then separating into 5 rounded lobes.
Height: To 20 inches


Habitat

Habitat Description: Fields, roadsides and dry open desert and upland areas.
Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 4000 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: Yellow to orange     Shape: Regular in elongated clusters     Tubular: Y     Flowering Period: Mar - May
Description: Yellow flowers are small and tubular shaped with 5 rounded yellow to orange lobes usually with red-orange marks. They are clustered along a coiled terminal flower spike. As the flowers open, the coil uncurls.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Smooth     Leaf Attachment: Basal and alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: The long, narrow leaves and upright stems are covered in bristly hairs. Stem leaves are alternate with short or no stems.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Color: Brown to black   
Fruit Type: Nutlet
Fruit Notes: Nutlets are erect, triangular and have a rough, bumpy surface and each contains 1 seed.


  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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