YELLOW
Amsinckia tessellata
Common names: FIDDLENECK Arizona desert: (Amsinckia intermedia). Yellow. Spring. California desert: (Amsinckia tessellata). Yellow. Spring. Borage family. Size: Bristly erect herbs, 8 to 18 inches.
An annual of the Creosotebush belt, and very abundant on gravelly or sandy soils in dry, open places, Fiddleneck is found from western New Mexico to California and north to eastern Washington.
A. tessellata occurs also in Chile and Argentina. Plants are reported to make good spring forage where they grow in heavy stands, but indications have been found that cirrhosis of the liver may result in cattle, sheep and horses that eat the nutlets.
Following moist winters, Fiddleneck is often so abundant as to form vast fields of yellow or orange-yellow blossoms, especially on the Mohave Desert in southern California.
The curling habit of the opening flower heads somewhat resembles the neck of a violin, hence the name.
YELLOW