MOUNTAIN PUCCOON

Lithospermum multiflorum

Borage Family (Boraginaceae)

One of the prettiest of the aspen understory species, mountain puccoon also makes a very tractable garden plant. It likes rich soils and regular water, and can grow in sun, dappled shade, or full shade. This plant has an erect, fountain-like growth form with slender, rather stiff, dark green leaves all along the stems and pendant sprays of deep golden trumpet-shaped flowers. Like those of other puccoons, the flowers have a pleasing, sweet fragrance and are very attractive to a wide array of native pollinators. Mountain puccoon usually grows in rather sparsely vegetated areas under the trees and probably would not compete very well with grasses in a meadow setting. It is better used in more formal beds, where it would do well planted with smaller perennials such as Wasatch penstemon, Lewis flax, prairie smoke, and Utah sweetvetch.