Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Orange Borage

Your favorite orange borage is Fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia)


Photo credits, clockwise, from left: ©2004 Carol W. Witham, T. Beth Kinsey, Ned Harris


Note the hairy foliage. Many of the borages also have this curved stem (like the neck of a fiddle, in this case). The stem rolls out to present  new flowers to the pollinators, usually insects.

Here's a fresh photo Sabino Canyon!


Photo by Marty Horowitz 2/3/2016
click photo for larger view

There are two Amsinckia species in Sabino, actually. Checker Fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellate) looks very similar. (Click the link to see.) It's possible that the photo from Marty is this species, but as I wrote earlier, we'll leave that to the experts. We'll be happy to identify this plant as one in the Borage family!
(Join the Tuesday Plant and Bird walk for more plant-y goodness. Meet outside the visitor center at 8:30am, Tuesdays through April.)


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