Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina)

Estimated Height at Pickup: 2-3', 3 gal

A cute runnering shrub with fern-like, fragrant leaves! Adaptable to most soils barring hardpan clay, but prefers slightly acidic, sandy soil. Individual plants may have male catkins, female catkins, or both. Colonies can be easily divided and transplanted, so can be propagated without pollination. 

Pollination: Male and female sometimes needed.

Light: Full Sun, Part Sun/Shade

Soil Moisture: Wet Mesic, Mesic, Dry Mesic, Dry

Soil Type: Sandy

Height: 1’-4’

Width: 2’-6’

Bloom Color: -

Bloom Time: Apr-May

Fruit: Female catkins produce nutlets.

Fall Color: Red, Bronze, Brown

Root Type: Rhizome

Notable Wildlife Interactions: Hosts a few small insects such as leaf beetles, spittle bugs, and leafhoppers, and more than 15 moths including the gordian sphinx. Large colonies provide cover for wildlife. Commonly browsed by deer.

Notes: Not a fern, the only extant member of their genus and in the same family as bayberries. Leaves were historically added to containers of picked berries, particularly blueberries, to slow moulding.