''Comptonia peregrina'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Myricaceae Myricaceae is a small family of dicotyledonous shrubs and small trees in the order Fagales with its type genus ''Myrica'', the sweet gales. There are three genera in the family, although some botanists separate many species from Myrica into a fo ...

native to eastern North America. It is the only extant (living) species in the genus '' Comptonia'', although a number of extinct species are placed in the genus.

Etymology

The common name is sweetfern or sweet-fern (although it is not a

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

), or in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, . The genus ''Comptonia'' is named in honor of Rev.

Henry Compton Henry Compton may refer to: * Henry Compton (bishop) (1632–1713), English bishop and nobleman * Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton (1544–1589), English peer, MP for Old Sarum * Henry Combe Compton (1789–1866), British Conservative Party polit ...

(1632-1713), 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 Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753, in the second volume of ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

''. Further on in the same volume, he described ''Myrica aspleniifolia'' as a different species (with the epithet spelt ''asplenifolia''). In 1763, he changed his mind concerning ''Myrica aspleniifolia'', and it became ''Liquidambar aspleniifolia'', and so in the same genus as ''Liquidambar peregrina''. In 1789, Charles Louis L'Héritier placed Linnaeus's original ''Myrica aspleniifolia'' in his new genus ''Comptonia''. In 1894, John M. Coulter transferred Linnaeus's ''Liquidambar peregrina'' to ''Comptonia'', and treated Linnaeus's ''Myrica aspleniifolia'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. ''Comptonia peregrina'' is now the only extant (living) species in the genus.

Description

''Comptonia peregrina'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

, growing to tall. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

of the plant are linear to lanceolate, long and broad, with a lobed margin; they give off a sweet odor, especially when crushed. Plants are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

with separate

unisexual Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s. The staminate flowers grow in clusters at the ends of branches, and are up to long. The pistillate flowers are only , but elongate when the fruits form, reaching .

Distribution and habitat

''Comptonia peregrina'' is native to eastern North America, from the Canadian provinces of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and Quebec in the north, east to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, to extreme northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the south, and west to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. It tends to grow on dry sandy sites, and is associated with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

stands.

Ecology

''Comptonia peregrina'' is used as a food plant by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species, including '' Bucculatrix paroptila'',

grey pug The grey pug (''Eupithecia subfuscata'') is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region. It is also found in North America. Since it does not place any special demands on climatic conditions, special caterpilla ...

setaceous Hebrew character The setaceous Hebrew character (''Xestia c-nigrum'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is found in the Palearctic realm. It is a common specie ...

, Io moth, and several ''

Coleophora ''Coleophora'' is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions. Many authors have t ...

'' case-bearers: '' C. comptoniella'', '' C. peregrinaevorella'' (which feeds exclusively on ''Comptonia''), '' C. persimplexella'', '' C. pruniella'' and '' C. serratella''. It is also a

non-legume nitrogen fixer Actinorhizal plants are a group of angiosperms characterized by their ability to form a symbiosis with the nitrogen fixing actinomycetota ''Frankia''. This association leads to the formation of nitrogen-fixing root nodules. Actinorhizal plants ar ...

for wet soils, with resistance to drought.

Uses and consumption

The plant produces a bristly burr that contains 1 to 4 edible nutlets. The aromatic leaves (fresh or dried) are also used to make a tea. The Canadian author

Catharine Parr Traill Catharine Parr Traill (born Strickland; 9 January 1802 – 29 August 1899) was an English-Canadian author and naturalist who wrote about life in Canada, particularly what is now Ontario (then the colony of Upper Canada). In the 1830s, Canada ...

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, like others, for a fern, she says that it is in high repute "among the Yankee and old Canadian housewifes (sic)." Tea made from the plant has been said to treat the effects of

poison ivy Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus '' Toxicodendron'' native to Asia and North America. Formerly considered a single species, '' Toxicodendron radicans'', poison ivies are now generally treated as a complex of three separate s ...

when applied to the affected area. The plant has also been used as a seasoning.

Notes

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Comptonia peregrina'' (sweet fern)Flora of North America: ''Comptonia peregrina''
* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q929465, from2=Q21976166, from3=Q21977546 Myricaceae Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa named by John Merle Coulter Plants described in 1753 Flora without expected TNC conservation status