Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
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 Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Comptonia peregrina
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Comptonia peregrina
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 052-01-001:
Comptonia peregrina FAMILY Myricaceae
INCLUDING Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Myrica asplenifolia var. asplenifolia
INCLUDING Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Myrica asplenifolia var. tomentosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Comptonia peregrina
COMMON NAME:
Sweet-fern
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969 mpa_page_103
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cope80_001_lvd
)
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, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
JK Marlow jkm110402_350b
April Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Flowers without sepals or petals, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_peregrina_sweetfern
April
)
JK Marlow jkm080705_167
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Leaves spicy-scented when crushed, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm090923_017
September Hancock County ME
Leaves narrow with deep marginal indentations (pinnatifid), per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm090923_019
September Hancock County ME
)
JK Marlow jkm0411a_18
November Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm0511b_24
November Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Comptonia peregrina
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Comptonia peregrina
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 052-01-001:
Comptonia peregrina
FAMILY
Myricaceae
INCLUDING
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Myrica asplenifolia var. asplenifolia
INCLUDING
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Myrica asplenifolia var. tomentosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Comptonia peregrina
360
Shrub
Perennial
Dioecious
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
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon in NC Mountains (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple: pinnatifid
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Sepals absent
Petals absent
Unisexual
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, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p166
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p188
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p076
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p054
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p231
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p26
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p108
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