It is native to much of western North America from California to British Columbia.

Amsinckia lycopsoides is a bristly annual herb similar in appearance to other fiddlenecks.

Its coiled inflorescence contains yellow flowers about a centimeter long and nearly the same in width, with a five-lobed corolla closed at the mouth by the bulges in the lobes.

[2] It is an introduced species far beyond the Pacific region, to Alaska, Texas, and New England.

In Australia, the species has become a widespread weed of pasture lands.