Traditional uses and benefits of Sweet Fern

Item: Traditional uses and benefits of Sweet Fern
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Author: Sylvia

Sweet Fern Quick Facts
Name:	Sweet Fern
Scientific Name:	Comptonia peregrina
Origin	Eastern North America, from Ontario and Quebec in the north
Colors	Brown
Shapes	Round cluster of ovoid brown 1/4 inch long shiny nutlets
Taste	Slightly resinous taste
Health benefits	Daarrhea, headache, fevers, catarrh, vomiting of blood, rheumatism, toothaches, sprains, minor hemorrhages, dysentery and ringworm

Sweet Fern scientifically known as Comptonia peregrina is a species of flowering plant in the Bayberry family Myricaceae. It is the only extant (living) species in the genus Comptonia, although a number of extinct species are placed in the genus. The plant is native to eastern North America, from Ontario and Quebec in the north, east to Nova Scotia, south to the extreme north of Georgia, and west to Minnesota. Popular common names of the plant are Ferngale, fern bush, meadow fern, shrubby fern, Canada sweetgale, spleenwort bush, sweet bush, sweet ferry and Sugar fern.

The genus name Comptonia, is an honorary named by Linnaeus for the Rev. Henry Compton, 1632-1713, Bishop of Oxford and amateur horticulturist. The species name peregrina is from the Latin and means exotic and sometimes immigrant and also foreign but the modern definition of the word is female pilgrim, all of which makes it somewhat difficult to conclude what the author had in mind in picking that name. Foliage is aromatic and resembles that of ferns, hence the common name of sweet fern.

Sweet Fern Facts

Name	Sweet Fern
Scientific Name	Comptonia peregrina
Native	Eastern North America, from Ontario and Quebec in the north, east to Nova Scotia, south to the extreme north of Georgia, and west to Minnesota
Common Names	Ferngale, fern bush, meadow fern, shrubby fern, Canada sweetgale, spleenwort bush, sweet bush, sweet ferry, Sugar fern
Name in Other Languages	Croatian: Komptonija Czech: Postopčák cizí Danish: Almindelig Bregnepors English: Sweet fern, Fern-gale, Sugar fern Finnish: Tuoksumyrtti French: Comptonie, Comptonie voyageuse, Comptonie à feuilles d’asplénie German: Farnmyrte Italian: Comptonie Ojibwa: Gibaime’nûagwûs, gibaime’nûna’gwûs, kba’ange-minš Polish: Komptonia amerykańska Swedish: Bräkenpors
Plant Growth Habit	Small, low, aromatic, monoecious or dioecious mound-shaped rhizomatous shrub
Growing Climates	Dry piney woods, exposed mountain slopes, abandoned pastures, clearings, barrens, highway embankments, gravel pits, weathered mine tailings, cut-over forested land, dry, sterile, sandy to rocky soils in pinelands or pine barrens, road sides, open wood lots and meadows
Soil	Grows well in dry, sterile, sandy soils, from well-drained dry sites to the edges of marshes
Plant Size	0.5 to 1.5 m tall and 1.2 to 2.5 m wide or more
Shoot	Young shoots are light green to light brown, terete, and very pubescent, becoming less pubescent with age
Twigs	Slender, gray-brown, fuzzy; buds round, plump, male catkins present in the winter, resin dots often present
Bark	Gray or reddish brown, more or less smooth, and terete with scattered white lenticels
Stem	Stems are green, yellowish, or reddish-brown when young, turning reddish-purple or coppery-brown with age
Leaf	Linear to lanceolate, 3–15 cm (1.2–5.9 in) long and 0.3–3 cm (0.1–1.2 in) broad, with a lobed margin; they give off a sweet odor, especially when crushed
Buds	Buds are globular, minute, solitary, and sessile, with two to four exposed scales
Flowering season	March to April
Flower	Plants are monoecious with separate unisexual flowers. The staminate flowers grow in clusters at the ends of branches, and are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long. The pistillate flowers are only 5 mm (0.2 in), but elongate when the fruits form, reaching 5 cm (2.0 in)
Fruit Shape & Size	Round cluster of ovoid brown 1/4 inch long shiny nutlets
Fruit Color	Brown
Flavor/Aroma	Spicy, aromatic odor
Taste	Slightly resinous taste
Plant Parts Used	entire plant, especially the leaves and tops

Plant Description

Sweet Fern is a small, low, aromatic, monoecious or dioecious, mound-shaped rhizomatous shrub that normally grows about 0.5 to 1.5 m tall and 1.2 to 2.5 m wide or more. The plant is found growing in dry piney woods, exposed mountain slopes, abandoned pastures, clearings, barrens, highway embankments, gravel pits, weathered mine tailings, cut-over forested land, dry, sterile, sandy to rocky soils in pinelands or pine barrens, road sides, open wood lots and meadows. The plant grows well in dry, sterile, sandy soils, from well-drained dry sites to the edges of marshes. Young shoots are light green to light brown, terete, and very pubescent, becoming less pubescent with age. Bark is gray or reddish brown, more or less smooth, and terete with scattered white lenticels. Buds are round, plump, male catkins present in the winter, resin dots often present.

Leaves and Stem

Leaves are simple and alternate, the blades are linear-oblong or lance-linear, 1¼ to 5 inches long, 1/3 to ¾ inch wide, the base and tip sometimes blunt or tapered to a sharp point, short-stalked or stalkless. The edges are toothless but fern-like with deep, rounded to squarish lobes with blunt or pointed tips. The upper surface is dark green, hairy or becoming smooth, lower surface pale green, hairy or becoming smooth. Both surfaces are heavily dotted in yellow glands. At the base of the leaf are pair of leafy appendages (stipules) that are somewhat heart-shaped with a long taper to a sharply pointed tip. Fall color can be nice reddish before turning brown.

Twigs are very fine, brown to reddish or purplish, gland dotted, hairy with a few scattered lenticels (pores). Stems are much branched above, the tips lacking a terminal bud. Lower stems are up to around 1/3 inch diameter with smooth, reddish-brown to gray bark.

Flower

Male and female flowers are borne separately on the same plant (monoecious) or different plants (dioecious) that are arranged in greenish catkins toward the tips of twigs or young shoots; flowering occurs before leaves emerge. Male catkins are drooping and cylindrical, ½ to 1¼ inches long, single from lateral buds, mostly crowded at tips of one-year-old twigs, with 25 to 50 flowers each with a sharply pointed scale-like bract. Each male floret has 4-8 stamens on short filaments; it is partially hidden by a small scale (about 2-3 mm. in length) that is broadly ovate and ciliate along its margins.

The female catkins are about ½” long and ovoid to globoid in shape, consisting of a small cluster of female florets and their scales. Each female floret has a naked ovary with a pair of stigmata at its apex; it is partially hidden by a small scale (about 2-3 mm. in length) that is broadly ovate and ciliate along its margins. In addition to this scale, there is a pair of linear bractlets that originate from the base of the ovary; they are up to twice the length of the scale. The blooming period occurs from mid- to late spring as the vernal leaves begin to develop, lasting about 2 weeks.

Sweet Fern Image Gallery

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Fruit

Afterwards, the pollinated female catkins are replaced by round cluster of ovoid brown 1/4 inch long shiny nutlets in August, which mature in September and October. The average number of nutlets per fertilized catkin is 5.5 +. At maturity, individual nutlets are 3-5 mm. long, ovoid in shape, truncate-dentate on one side, and rounded on the other. Seeds require breaking of dormancy to germinate (usually by cold stratification or by planting outside in fall) and usually remain in the soil for some time – they are known to be viable for up to 70 years when they remain in the soil.