Fiddleneck
Amsinckia micrantha
Amsinckia micrantha
Importance
Native to North America, and member of the Borage family. Named fiddleneck as the way the flowering stem curls over the top suggests the head of a violin (see picture 4). Plants can grow to a height of 90 cms. Found in East Anglia particularly in spring sown crops such as sugar beet.
1. Very distinctive bi-lobed cotyledons.
2. Leaves stiffly hairy, lanceolate 4–5 cms long and 1 cm wide.
3. Small yellow flowers 2 mm wide and 3 mm in length. The flowers have 5 petals fused at the base.
4. Flowering stem shaped like the head of a violin (hence 'fiddleneck').
5. Dense population in a sugar beet crop.