Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
NEW! Click to go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Comptonia's leaf shape is unique – very narrowly elliptic to linear and about 2-3” long, with strongly crenate/wavy undulated leaf margins. The leaves thus resemble pinnae on many ferns, thus the common name. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 052-01-001:
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
COMMON NAME:
Sweet-fern
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cope80_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm110402_350
April Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Male flower clusters cylindrical and about 1.25" long, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
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JK Marlow jkm110402_350b
April Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Flowers without sepals or petals, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_peregrina_sweetfern
April
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JK Marlow jkm080705_167
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Leaves spicy-scented when crushed, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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JK Marlow jkm090923_017
September Hancock County ME
Leaves narrow with deep marginal indentations (pinnatifid), per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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JK Marlow jkm090923_019
September Hancock County ME
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JK Marlow jkm0411a_18
November Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
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JK Marlow jkm0511b_24
November Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 052-01-001:
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
360
Shrub
Perennial
Dioecious
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Habitat: Dry open woods and barrens, in the mountains on xeric ridges at low to medium elevations, usually in fire-maintained habitats, also in xeric and fire-maintained habitats on monadnocks in the upper Piedmont and in dry, sandy sites in the lower Piedmont and fall-line sandhills, per Weakley's Flora
NEW! Click here to see a map from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US showing range and abundance.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple: pinnatifid
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Unisexual
Sepals absent
Petals absent
Flowers in catkins
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Nutlet
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p166
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p054
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia p231
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p26
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p108