Fiddlenecks are hairy winter annuals that form distinctive flowering heads curled like the neck of a fiddle. They are toxic to animals. Early leaves have coarse, sharp hairs and are 4 to 6 times as long as wide. Mature plants may reach 3 1/2 feet. Leaves are lance-shaped, coarse to the touch, hairy, and alternate on the stem. The plant produces yellow, funnel-shaped, five-lobed flowers on one side of a curled flower spike. At maturity, the four-lobed fruit breaks apart into four one-seeded nutlets. Coast fiddleneck and common fiddleneck are very similar, but coast fiddleneck has gray nutlets while common fiddleneck has brown or black nutlets.
