Stats

Lifespan

Annual

Size

Small

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Common

About

Common Fiddleneck is a bristly annual wildflower native to western North America, recognised by its tightly coiled flower spike that unfurls like a violin scroll as small orange-yellow blooms open in sequence. Despite its cheerful appearance, its seeds contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids toxic to grazing livestock.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Boraginales

Family

Boraginaceae

Genus

Amsinckia

Species

Amsinckia menziesii