{{short description|Species of plant native to eastern North America}} {{Speciesbox |name = Sweetfern |image = Sweet-fern (Huron Shores).JPG |genus = Comptonia (plant) |species = peregrina |status = G5 |status_system = TNC |status_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=''Comptonia peregrina''. NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.134920/Comptonia_peregrina |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=15 August 2023}}</ref> |authority = (L.) Coult.<ref name=POWO_64014-2>{{cite web |title=''Comptonia peregrina'' (L.) Coult. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:64014-2 |access-date=2019-07-18}}</ref> |synonyms = {{Species list |Comptonia aspleniifolia |(L.) L'Hér. |Comptonia ceterach|Mirb. |Comptonia peregrina var. aspleniifolia|(L.) Fernald |Comptonia peregrina var. tomentosa|A.Chev. |Liquidambar aspleniifolia|(L.) L. |Liquidambar peregrina|L. |Myrica aspleniifolia|L. |Myrica aspleniifolia var. tomentosa|(A.Chev.) Gleason |Myrica comptonia|C.DC. |Myrica peregrina|(L.) Kuntze }} |synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO_64014-2/><ref name=FNA>{{cite book |first1=Allan J. |last1=Bornstein |contribution=Comptonia peregrina |contribution-url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500420 |access-date=2019-07-19 |editor-last=Flora of North America Editorial Committee |title=Flora of North America ''(online)'' |publisher=eFloras.org}}</ref><!--for Liquidambar peregrina, not in POWO as of July 2019--><ref name="IPNI_430705-1">{{cite web |title=''Liquidambar aspleniifolia'' (L.) L. |work=The International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/430705-1 |access-date=2019-07-19}}</ref><!--for Liquidambar aspleniifolia, not in POWO as of July 2019-->
}}
'''''Comptonia peregrina''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae native to eastern North America. It is the only extant (living) species in the genus ''Comptonia'',<ref name=POWO_30018145-2>{{cite web |title=''Comptonia'' L'Hér. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30018145-2 |access-date=2019-07-18}}</ref> although some extinct species are placed in the genus.
==Etymology== The common name is '''sweetfern''' or '''sweet-fern''' (although it is not a fern), or in Quebec, {{lang|fr|comptonie voyageuse}}.<ref name="FNA" /> The genus ''Comptonia'' is named in honor of Rev. Henry Compton, 18th century bishop of Oxford.
The species name ''peregrina'' literally means ''one that travels''. Compare the plant's Quebec French name, ''comptonie voyageuse'': "traveling comptonia."
==Taxonomy== The species was first described, as ''Liquidambar peregrina'', by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in the second volume of ''Species Plantarum''. Further on in the same volume, he describes ''Myrica aspleniifolia'' as a different species (with the epithet spelt ''asplenifolia''<ref name="note1" group="note" />). In 1763, he changed his mind concerning ''Myrica aspleniifolia'', and it became ''Liquidambar aspleniifolia'', and so in the same genus as ''Liquidambar peregrina''.<ref name="Coul94">{{Cite book |last1=Coulter |first1=John M. |title=Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club |date=1894 |volume=5 |pages=127–128 |contribution=Myricaceae |access-date=2019-07-19 |contribution-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31876067}}</ref>
In 1789, Charles Louis L'Héritier placed Linnaeus's original ''Myrica aspleniifolia'' in his new genus ''Comptonia''.<ref name="IPNI_60459249-2">{{cite web |title=''Comptonia aspleniifolia'' (L.) L'Hér. |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/60459249-2 |access-date=2019-07-19 |work=The International Plant Names Index}}</ref> In 1894, John M. Coulter transferred Linnaeus's ''Liquidambar peregrina'' to ''Comptonia'' and treated Linnaeus's ''Myrica aspleniifolia'' as a synonym.<ref name="Coul94" />
==Description== ''Comptonia peregrina'' is the only extant (living) species in the genus.''<ref name="POWO_30018145-2" />'' It is a deciduous shrub, growing to {{cvt|1.5|m|ft|1}} tall. Its leaves are linear to lanceolate, {{cvt|3|–|15|cm|1}} long and {{cvt|0.3|–|3|cm|1}} broad, with a lobed margin; the leaves give off a sweet odor, especially when crushed. Plants are monoecious with separate unisexual flowers. The staminate flowers grow in clusters at the ends of branches, and are up to {{cvt|5|cm|1}} long. The pistillate flowers are only {{cvt|5|mm|1}} but elongate when the fruits form, reaching {{cvt|5|cm|1}}.<ref name=FNA/>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Comptonia peregrina'' is native to eastern North America, from the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec in the north, east to Nova Scotia, to extreme northern Georgia in the south, and west to Minnesota.<ref name=POWO_64014-2/> It tends to grow on dry sandy sites and is associated with pine stands.<ref name=FNA/>
==Ecology== ''Comptonia peregrina'' is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including ''Bucculatrix paroptila'', grey pug, setaceous Hebrew character, Io moth, and several ''Coleophora'' case-bearers: ''C. comptoniella'', ''C. peregrinaevorella'' (which feeds exclusively on ''Comptonia''), ''C. persimplexella'', ''C. pruniella'' and ''C. serratella''. It is a non-legume nitrogen fixer for wet soils, with resistance to drought.<ref name="NC Extension">{{cite web |title=''Comptonia peregrina'' (Sweet Fern) |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/comptonia-peregrina/ |website=North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |publisher=North Carolina State University |access-date=19 June 2024}}</ref>
==Uses and consumption== The plant produces a bristly burr that contains 1 to 4 edible nutlets.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A1xlB9-_wkEC&q=sweet+fern+at+the+national+audubon+society&pg=PA130|author=Peter Alden and Brian Cassie|title=National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States|publisher=Chanticleer Press|year=1999|edition=1st|page=130|isbn=0-679-44682-6}}</ref> The aromatic leaves (fresh or dried) are used to make a tea. Canadian author Catharine Parr Traill includes it in her book ''The Female Emigrant's Guide'' in a list of substitutes for China tea. "When boiled," she notes, "it has a slightly resinous taste, with a bitter flavour, that is not very unpleasant." Mistaking it for a fern, she says that it is in high repute "among the Yankee and old Canadian housewifes (sic)."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?R=DC-37131055380711D|title=The female emigrant's guide, and hints on Canadian housekeeping|work=Toronto Public Library|access-date=2018-01-17|language=en}}</ref> Tea made from the plant has been said to treat the effects of poison ivy when applied to the affected area.<ref>{{cite book|author=Brown, Jr.|first=Tom|title=Tom Brown's Field Guide: Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants|publisher=Berkley Books|year=1986|isbn=978-0-425-10063-9|pages=196}}</ref> The plant can be used as a seasoning.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Comptonia+peregrina|title=''Comptonia peregrina'' - (L.)J.M.Coult.|website=PFAF|access-date=September 16, 2014}}</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist|group=note|refs= {{#tag:ref|Article 60.10 of the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' requires names not formed in accordance with the article to be corrected. The epithet ''aspleniifolia'' is formed from ''Asplenium'' and ''folia'', so must be constructed as ''aspleni+i+folia''.<ref name=ShenzhenCode/>|group=note|name=note1}} }}
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=ShenzhenCode>{{Citation |mode=cs1|year=2018 |editor-last=Turland |editor-first=N.J. |display-editors=etal |contribution=Art. 60.10 |title=International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code) adopted by the Nineteenth International Botanical Congress Shenzhen, China, July 2017 |edition=electronic |location=Glashütten |publisher=International Association for Plant Taxonomy |contribution-url=https://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/pages/main/art_60.html#Art60.10 |access-date=2019-07-19 }}</ref> }}
==External links== *[http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=cope80 USDA Plants Profile for ''Comptonia peregrina'' (sweet fern)] *[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500420 Flora of North America: ''Comptonia peregrina''] *{{GRIN | ''Comptonia peregrina'' | 413126}} {{Commons category|Comptonia peregrina|position=left}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q929465|from2=Q21976166|from3=Q21977546}}
Category:Myricaceae Category:Flora of Eastern Canada Category:Flora of the North-Central United States Category:Flora of the Northeastern United States Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Taxa named by John Merle Coulter Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status