60 



MYRICACEAE 



There are four North American species of this family, the 

 Sweet Gale, native in the north and much used in decorative 

 planting; the Wax Myrtle, the nuts of which are coated with 

 wax; the Bayberry of the eastern coast; and the Sweetfern, 

 which alone is native in Illinois. 



COMPTONIA PEREGRINA (Linnaeus) Coulter 



Sweetfern 



The Sweetfern, fig. 8, is a low, twiggy, mat-forming, sweet- 

 scented shrub a little over 1 foot to nearly 3 feet high, with 

 long, narrow, cut-edged, ferny leaves. Its branches are slender, 

 pubescent, and bear alternate, linear-lanceolate leaves 1 to 4 

 or occasionally 5 inches long by l/^ to ^ inch wide. The blades, 

 characteristically deeply cut into 20 or more rounded lobes or 

 teeth, are dark green above, paler and pubescent beneath and 

 on the midrib and margin above, and covered more or less 

 densely on both faces with resinous glands. The apex usually is 

 acute and the base is rounded to the very short petiole. The 

 early deciduous stipules are small and half-cordate. 



The flowers are generally dioecious, though occasionally 



FIG. 8 

 Comptonia peregrina 



