Clustered Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum): Pollinator Magnet with Silvery Bracts

Overview

Clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), also called big leaf or short-toothed mountain mint, is a clump-forming perennial native to eastern North America. It grows 2-3 feet tall with broad, mint-scented leaves and distinctive, dense, flat-topped clusters of tiny white flowers surrounded by showy, silvery bracts in mid- to late summer. A pollinator powerhouse.

Botanical Details

• Family: Lamiaceae (mint family)
• Genus: Pycnanthemum
• Species: muticum

Culture & Uses

Full sun to part shade, moist to average soil. Spreads slowly by rhizomes. Leaves make a pleasant mint tea. Exceptional for attracting bees, butterflies, beneficial wasps. Use in pollinator gardens, meadows, rain gardens, borders. Deer resistant. Hardy in USDA zones 4-8.