Click on images to enlarge
infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of stalkless upper leaf (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of stem and leaf undersides. Note the relatively sparse covering of spreading hairs on the stem (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
coiled flower clusters, which elongate as the fruit mature (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of the bright yellow flowers, which usually have darker orange markings in their open throats (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
the tubular flowers from side-on, which are much longer than the sepals (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
the very similar bugloss fiddle-neck (Amsinckia lycopsoides), with protrusions partially blocking the throats of the entirely bright yellow flowers. Also note the dense covering of spreading hairs on the stems and sepals (Photo: Greg Jordan)
Scientific Name
Amsinckia intermedia Fisch. & C.A. Mey.
Synonyms
Amsinckia douglasiana DC. (misapplied)
Amsinckia menziesii (Lehm.) A. Nels. & McBride (misapplied)
Amsinckia menziesii (Lehm.) A. Nels. & McBride var. intermedia (Fisch & C.A. Mey.) Ganders
Amsinckia scouleri I.M. Johnst.
Amsinckia spectabilis Fischer & Meyer (misapplied)
Family
Boraginaceae
Common Names
amsinckia, buckthorn, coast buckthorn, coast fiddleneck, common fiddle-neck, common fiddleneck, corn gromwell, fiddle neck, fiddle-neck, fiddleneck, finger weed, intermediate fiddleneck, ironweed, tar weed, yellow burnweed, yellow burr weed, yellow burweed, yellow burrweed, yellow forget me not, yellow gromwell, yellow iron weed, yellow tarweed
Origin
Native to south-western Canada (i.e. British Columbia), western USA (i.e. Idaho, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah) and northern Mexico.
Naturalised Distribution
This species is widely naturalised in south-eastern Australia. It is widespread and common in New South Wales, the ACT and the western and central parts of Victoria.
Notes
Common fiddle-neck (Amsinckia intermedia) is a mainly found as a weed of cultivated land and disturbed sites in south-eastern Australia, however it may also invade pastures and natural vegetation.
It is sometimes regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria (e.g. in the Goulburn Broken Catchment) and has also been recorded in conservation areas in inland New South Wales (e.g. in Kinchega National Park, in the south-west of the state, and in the Mount Canobolas State Recreation Area, in the central-western part of the state). In the Mount Canobolas State Recreation Area, common fiddle-neck (Amsinckia intermedia) has been reported growing in grassy woodlands, tall open forests and along disturbed creeklines.