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Sweet Fern

(Comptonia peregrina)

Also known as: Ferngale, fern bush, meadow fern, shrubby fern, Canada sweetgale, spleenwort bush, sweet bush, sweet ferry.

 

 

Comptonia, after Compton, Bishop of London from 1632-1713, by Sir J. Banks.
peregrina, from the Latin, "foreign"

Sweet Fern, from the aroma and the fern like shape of the leaf. The only woody plant in the North Woods with fern like foliage.

 

This is a native plant. bush-1999

Sweetfern is usually found on hillsides, in dry soil, from Canada to North Carolina and west to Indiana and Saskatchewan.

Description.- Sweetfern is a shrub from 1 to 3 feet high with slender, erect, or spreading branches and reddish-brown bark.

The thin, narrow leaves are from 3 to 6 inches long, from one-fourth to one-half an inch wide, deeply divided into many lobes and in general resembling the leaves of a fern.
Both male and female flowers are produced. The former are borne in cylindrical catkins in clusters at the ends of the branches and the latter in egg-shaped catkins.

The whole plant has a spicy, aromatic odor, which is more pronounced when the leaves are bruised.

Part used.-The entire plant, especially the leaves and tops.

The above information is from:

Sievers, A.F. 1930. The Herb Hunters Guide. Misc. Publ. No. 77. USDA, Washington DC.

This fine bush has always been a favorite of mine. When you find it in the garden take a moment to gently stroke the leaves...and smell your hand. I love the smell.

I had a few bushes clinging to the side of the roadside embankment a few years ago. I tried to move them before some bulldozing was done but they didn't seem to have a root ball...just a long ropey rhizome heading off to who-knows-where. A year after the bulldozing little sweet fern began popping up many yards from the original plants. I think bits of root were spread around by the 'dozer during landscaping. This experience supports the info below which says root cuttings might be the best way to propagate this plant.

You will often spot this bush in places like dumps, sand pits and roadside embankments. It is tough!

There is an exceptionally good site, non-profit and labor-of-love sort, at http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/index.html that you should explore. The following info is from there.

Taxonomy:

 

Kingdom Plantae, the Plants

Division Magnoliophyta, the Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class Magnoliopsida, the Dicotyledons

Subclass Hamamelididae

Order Myricales

Family Myriaceae, the Myrtles

Genus Comptonia

Specie: peregrina

Taxonomic Serial Number: 501619

Also known as Myrica asplenifolia, Myrica peregrina

Identification:

The only woody plant in the North Woods with fern like foliage.

Description:

Not a fern, but a low, deciduous, rhizomatous shrub, 1'-4' tall.

Leaves simple, alternate, and fernlike; fragrant and hairy, 2?"-4?" long.

Flowers catkins clustered at ends of the branches; 1?"-1?" long.

Fruits

Seeds grow in burlike heads, with four per fruit

Distribution:

New Brunswick south through New England to Georgia and west through Illinois, Indiana, and

the Great Lakes to Saskatchewan and North Dakota.

Habitat:

Openings in coniferous forest in well-drained, dry, acid, sandy or gravelly soils. Because it fixes

nitrogen, does well on disturbed sites or sites with sterile soil. Drought and salt tolerant.

Shade intolerant invader of newly opened canopies and disturbed sites.

Host to Sweetfern Blister Rust (Cronartium comptoniae), which reduces growth of Jack Pine

(Pinus banksiana)

Associates: (This is a very nice bit of information to have.)

Trees: Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana)

Shrubs: Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus), American

Hazel (Corylus americana), Beaked Hazel (Corylus cornuta), Wintergreen (Gaultheria

procumbens), Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium augustifolium, Vaccinium myrtilloides)

Herbs: Yellow Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.), Hairgrass

(Deschampsia flexuosa), Hawkweed (Hieracium spp.), Sunflower (Helianthus spp.),

Ricegrass (Oryzopsis spp.), Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum), Little Bluestem

(Schizachyrium scoparium), Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

Mammals: Limited use as food and cover for cottontail rabbits. In Minnesota, moose browse

sweetfern in winter and spring, and

white-tailed deer browse it in winter only.

Birds: Fruits eaten by flickers; food and cover for ruffed grouse. Prairie chickens and sharp-tailed

grouse use for nesting cover.

History:

The Mi'kmaq used the leaves to treat poison ivy rash.

Uses:

Leaves used for potpourri, and tea made from the leaves has been used to relieve symptoms of

dysentery.

Fruits may be eaten raw, and the fresh leaves are used as a lining in fruit baskets to help preserve

the fruits.

Reproduction:

Reproduces by rhizomes and seed, although difficult to propagate by seed and some after-ripening

may be necessary.

Matures sexually in 2-3 years. Seeds can remain viable in the soil for as long as 70 years.

Spreads mainly by rhizomes, forming thickets in sun or partial shade.

Colonizes newly burned sites primarily by sprouting from rhizomes.

Propagation:

Difficult to propagate by seed; balled and burlapped plants often do not survive.

Best started with root cuttings.

Cultivation:

A good garden shrub because it maintains its 3'-4' height for a long time without pruning.

In natural habitat, grows on poor, dry, sandy soils, so it won't need much feeding.

Requires a lime-free soil.

 

Study Pointers:

 

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