One of the great North American native plants that never gets a bad rap is Comptonia peregrina, commonly known as sweet fern. Looking good now, this wax myrtle relative in the Myricaceae family, is usually classified as a sub-shrub. The fragrant, finely textured foliage clothes the 2′ tall stems, which spread by underground rhizomes, to create a decent size colony.
Comptonia hails from Canada south to northern Georgia, where it is usually found on sandy dry soils in full sun, as well as under an open canopy of sparse pine trees. Sweet fern is a renaissance plant in the garden…a nitrogen fixer as well as a larval host for a wide range of moths and butterflies. On the other hand, the fragrant foliage can also be burned as a mosquito repellant. Unburned, the foliage is used as a seasoning. Herbalists and early Americans use sweet fern as an expectorant, to treat diarrhea, fevers, headaches, rheumatism, ringworms, muscle sprains, toothaches, bee stings, and as a treatment for poison ivy. That’s pretty darn useful. Hardiness Zone 2a-8a. We hope to have this available through Plant Delights Nursery next year.
