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Comptonia peregrina
Sweet fern Taxonomy
Synonyms: Myrica asplenifolia Subspecific taxa: Classification:
Other taxonomic & nomenclature sources: USDA Plants; ITIS; The Plant List; IPNI Images
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Species Distribution
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County Map Legend
Absent: Not known from county Medium confidence: Medium or unknown confidence; often old records or unverifiable observations Medium-high confidence: Often observations by expert botanists High confidence: Often vouchered herbarium records Planted / introduced: Native species introduced outside historic range, or only in planted locations within county (e.g., restorations) Historic / extirpated: Only historic records for the species; likely extirpated (Note that this category is not yet functional) North American distribution maps for this species: FLNA; USDA Plants; BONAP; BISON
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Species Status
Status/Listing: State Endangered Notes: Origin: Native
Species Description
General: Dicot-woody, perennial Roots: primary Shoots: alternate leaf arrangment; simple leaf type; lobed (pinnately), parted (pinnately) leaf margin; Pinnate leaf venation; awl-shaped, linear leaf shape Inflorescence: catkin Flowers: unisexual, monoecious, dioecious; incomplete, not petals, not sepals Fruit: nut Physiology: autotrophic; C3 C02 fixation Reproduction: sexual, vegetative
Ecology & Natural History
Habitat: Usually found in places that are occasionally burned (Swink & Wilhelm, 1979). ILPIN Notes: Disturbance of soil or fire exposes long buried seeds, allowing for germination (Del Tredici, 1977). Fruits are very difficult to germinate because of a chemical inhibitor located in the testa. Soaking of the fruits in gibberellic acid inhances germination (Del Tredici, 1977). Grows well in sandy or peaty soil (Rehder, 1937). Leaves resinous dotted, fragrant when crushed, appearing after flowering. Darlington, E. P. 1949. Notes on some North American Lepidoptera reared on sweet fern (Comptonia asplenifolia Linnaeus) with description of new species. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 74: 173-185. Del Tredici, P. 1977. The buried seeds of Comptonia peregrina, the sweet fern. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 104: 270-275. Elias, T. S. 1971. The genera of Myricaceae in the southeastern United States. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 52: 305-318. Fell, E. W. 1955. Flora of Winnebago County, Illinois: An annotated list of the vascular plants. Nature Conservancy, Washington, D.C. 207 pp. Rehder, A. 1937. Manual of cultivated trees and shrubs. The Macmillan Company, New York. 930 pp. Soper, J. H., and M. L. Heimburger. 1982. Shrubs of Ontario. Life Sciences Miscellaneous Publication, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada. 495 pp. The aromatic leaves can be used to make a tea. Young nutlets are edible (Fernald et al., 1958). Spreads mainly by means of root suckers (Del Tredici, 1977). Sweet fern is the alternate host for a blister rust that occurs on jack pine (Soper & Heimburger, 1982). Chromosome number is 2n = 32 (Elias, 1971). Serves as a host for several species of moths (Darlington, 1949). Functional Relationships:
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Coefficient of Conservatism (C-value) [?] :
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Illinois Natural History Survey - University of Illinois
