Amsinckia tessellata var. tessellata

Desert fiddleneck, Desert Fiddleneck

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Desert fiddleneck is a California native annual found in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehachapi, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, south Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges northern slopes, Great Basin, and Desert regions in rocky or sandy soils at elevations of 50 to 2,280 meters. Flowering from February to June, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with white-hairy calyces and blossoms 8 to 12 millimeters long. Growing with slender branching stems to approximately 40 centimeters tall, it has an upright and somewhat sprawling habit. Its leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, arranged alternately along the stems, becoming smaller toward the flower clusters. The plant's distinctive coiled flowering stalks resemble a fiddleneck, giving rise to its common name.

Habitat: Rocky or sandy soils

Bloom period: Feb-Jun

Elevation: 50-2280 m

Bioregions: s SNF, Teh, SnJV, SnFrB, SCoR, TR (n slope), GB, D

California counties: Kern, San Bernardino, Inyo, Monterey, Los Angeles, Lassen, San Diego, Riverside, San Benito, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Tulare, Imperial, Modoc, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, Alameda, Madera, Fresno, Plumas, Ventura, Siskiyou, Merced

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.