Fiddleneck-Borage Family

Amsinckia sp

Characteristics. There are a few native species of fiddleneck in this genus. The most common in Oregon and California are coast fiddleneck and tarweed fiddleneck. Both are similar in appearance and can be distinguish by minor differences in the flower. Although found in many situations the major problem with this weed that it is commonly found in hay fields and can be poisonous to livestock.

Identifying Characteristics. These annuals grow erectly to a height of 2 ½ feet with hairy stems and leaves that are 1 to 4 inches long and strap-like to oval in shape. Cotyledons (seed leaves) are "Y" shaped, with tiny blisters and a few fine hairs. Early leaves are four to six times longer than wide and have coarse, sharp hairs.Mature plants are single or few-stemmed. Leaves are lance shaped, coarse to the touch, hairy, and are alternate to one another along the stems. Distinctive spike flowering heads curl like the neck of a fiddle and the yellow, funnel-shaped, five-lobed flowers attach on one side of the spike.

Most characteristic are the small flowers that are grouped on one side of a terminal inflorescence that curls at the tip much like the head of a fiddle.

Fiddlenecks are winter annual broadleaf plants. There are several native Amsinckia species in California. Most are desirable components of wildlands. However, coast, A. menziesii var.intermedia, and Menzies, A. menziesii, fiddlenecks can be problematic in agronomic crop fields, orchards, and pastures. In fact, fruits of coast, Menzies, western, and tarweed, A. lycopsoides, fiddlenecks can be toxic to livestock when ingested in quantity. Poisonings most often occur when livestock consume contaminated grain or feed. Fiddlenecks also inhabit disturbed, open or unmanaged places, grasslands, fields, roadsides, and vineyards. Of the many Amsinckiaspecies in California, coast fiddleneck is most often reported as a weed. Coast fiddleneck, shown in the photos, and common fiddleneck, A. douglasiana, are very similar.

There is no obvious dispersal mechanism but the seeds, still enclosed in the bristly calyx, are often dispersed on the fur of animals. Common fiddleneck seed has been introduced to new areas as a contaminant in sandy soil brought in from elsewhere. Where this has occurred, seedling emergence has continued intermittently for several years. There are suggestions that the seed has been introduced in poultry feed and may persist in bird droppings.

Fiddleneck and related plants of the amsinckia species have been linked to causing cirrhosis of the liver in horses. These plants include fiddleneck, tarweed, yellow burr weed, fireweed and buckthorn, which are predominantly found in the semi-arid regions of Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California.