Common Fiddleneck is a slender bristled annual with bright yellow flowers that coil into a fiddleneck shape.

Flowers are in bloom from February to May. Their coil ranges from 2-8 inches long. The flowers are yellow or yellow-orange; a closer look will reveal orange blotches (if there are no orange blotches, you may be looking at a closely related plant, Amsinckia menziesii). The plant has long slender leaves up to 6 inches long. Bristles cover the green parts of this plant, especially on the stems; in spite of this it is attractive to cattle for a food source.

The genus name Amsinckia comes from a 19th century botanic garden frequent visitor from Hamburg named Wilhelm Amsinck. The species name intermedia means it is halfway between a pair of related species.

Contributed by Liz Baumann