FRINGED PUCCOON

Lithospermum incisum

Borage Family (Boraginaceae)

Fringed puccoon is a widely distributed across the Great Plains and as well as in the southwest deserts and into the eastern United States. In our region it is common on the Colorado Plateau and in the southern Great Basin, where it is usually found in open shrubland communities at low to middle elevations, often on rocky soils. It is a low plant with dark green, narrow, pointed leaves and an abundance of fragrant pale yellow blossoms in mid spring. The showy, inch-wide flowers have long nectar-filled tubes that attract butterflies. The petals have frilly edges, hence the name fringed puccoon. In our experience, this plant performs best in a well-drained soil with low fertility and a gravel mulch. Mulching with bark chips seemed to shorten its life. Fringed puccoon makes a good plant for a low border. It combines well with Utah ladyfinger milkvetch, fiesta buckwheat, and sundrops.