Comptonia peregrina (sweetfern)

Sweetfern is an upright, deciduous shrub that looks more like a fern than a flowering plant because of its long, narrow, wavy-margined leaves. Its flowers are in catkins. Male catkins are cone-like structures, and the female catkins are small, round structures. The shrub typically grows 2–4' tall. Its aromatic leaves have a lightly citrusy, pungently herbal scent. It is low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, and deer and rabbit resistant. Pairs beautifully with broad-leafed groundcovers. [Source: nativeplanttrust.org]

Sweet fern is native to eastern North America. In Maryland, it is largely a plant of the mountains. It generally grows on acidic, nutrient-poor, sandy sites. It gets a nutritional boost in such low-nitrogen soils because its roots, like those of its relatives bayberry and wax myrtle, contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Few other plants that are not legumes are known to have this ability. Host plant for various moth species. Attracts songbirds.

BONAP Native Range Map (bright green indicates county native, dark green indicates state native)  

Photo by Kathy Thornton

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