Large-Flowred Fiddleneck
See photo info
Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office
Species Account
LARGE-FLOWERED FIDDLENECK
(Amsinckia grandiflora)
CLASSIFICATION: Federal Endangered Species (Federal Register 50:19374; May 8, 1985)
CRITICAL HABITAT: Designated in Federal Register 50:19374, May 8, 1985
T3S R4E Section 28 w1/2 NW1/4 and W1/2 SW1/4, Mount Diablo Meridian, San Joaquin County. (See Code of federal Regulations 50:17.96)
The designated critical habitat contains the necessary elements of a steep west-and south-facing slope with light-textured but stable soils.
RECOVERY PLAN: Large-flowered Fiddleneck (Amsinckia grandiflora) Recovery Plan (pdf), 1997.
DESCRIPTION:
Large-flowered fiddleneck (Amsinckia grandiflora) is an annual herb in the borage (Boraginaceae) family. The erect plants grow 1-2 feet high and branch at the middle or above. Coarse stiff hairs densely cover the leaves and stems.
Bright orange, trumpet-shaped flowers bloom in April and May. The 0.5 to 0.75-inch long fused petals are conspicuously marked with deep orange spots on the corolla tips. Flowers grow in dense, two-ranked clusters along a curved stem or "fiddleneck," hence the generic vernacular name.
See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants, below, for a detailed description of the species.
Large-flowered fiddleneck can be separated from other species of Amsinckia by the following characteristics:
- Two- to four-lobed calyx (sepals)
- Green, hairy leaves and stems
- Smooth nutlets (seeds)
- Relatively large (0.5-2.2 inch) red-orange flowers
DISTRIBUTION:
Historically, the species was reported from a few locations in the northern Diablo Range, part of the Inner South Coast Range of California. At present, two natural populations exist. One consists of two colonies on Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory property in the hills east of Livermore in Alameda and San Joaquin counties, California. The other is a recently discovered population on private land in San Joaquin County. Besides the two extant natural populations, there are also several experimentally reintroduced populations.
THREATS:
Large-flowered fiddleneck has been reduced by agriculture, development, and grazing, and is currently threatened by nonnative plants and possibly by altered fire frequency.
STATE & CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY STATUS:
The species was listed as endangered by the California Department of Fish and Game in April 1992. The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range).
REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Ray, P.M., and H.F. Chisaki. 1957a. Studies on Amsinckia. I. A synopsis of the genus, with a study of heterostyly in it. American Journal of Botany. 44:524-536.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1997. Large-flowered Fiddleneck (Amsinckia grandilora) Recovery Plan (pdf), Portland, Oregon.
General Information about California Plants
Photo credit: large-flowered fiddleneck, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Prepared by Endangered
Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife
Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service
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