PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS, 



9 



SWEET FERN. 



Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coullor. 



Synonyms.— rComptonia as plenifolia Gaertn.; Myrira itsplenifoUa L.; Liquidambor 

 asplenifolia L.; Liquidamhar peregrina L. 



Other common names. — Kern gale, fern bush, meadow fern, shrubby fern, Canada 

 tivveet gale, spleenwort bush, sweet bush, sweet ferry. 



Habitat and range. — Sweet fern is usually found on hillsides, in dry soil, in Canada 

 and the northeastern United States. It is indigenous. 



Description. — The fragrant odor and the resemblance of the leaves of this plant to 

 those of a fern have given 

 rise to the common name 

 "sweet fern." It is a 

 shrub with reddish-brown 

 bark, growing from about 

 1 to 3 feet in height, with 

 slender, erect or spread- 

 ing branches, the leaves 

 hairy when young. The 

 thin narrow leaves are 

 borne on short stalks and 

 are linear oblong or linear 

 lance shaped, about 3 to 

 (5 inches long and from 

 one-fourth to half an inch 

 wide, deeply divided into 

 many lobes, the margins 

 of which are generally en- 

 tire or sparingly toothed. 

 The catkins expand with 

 the leaves. (Fig. 1.) 



The staminate or male 

 ilowers are produced in 

 cylindrical catkins in 

 clusters at the ends of the 

 branches and are about 

 an inch in length, the 

 kidney-shaped scales 

 overlapping. The pistil- 

 late or female flowers are 

 borne in egg-shaped or 

 roundish-oval catkins, the 

 eight awl-shaped bractlets 

 persisting and surround- 

 ing the one-seeded, shining, light-brown nut, giving it a burlike appearance. The 

 whole plant has a spicy, aromatic odor, which is more pronounced when the leaves 

 are bruised. Sweet fern belongs to the bayberry family (Myricacea^). 



Collection, prices, and uses. — The entire plant is used, but especially the leavc,-^ and 

 tops. It has a fragrant, spicy odor and an aromatic, slightly bitter, and astringent 

 taste. 



The present price of sweet fern is about 3 to 5 cents a pound. 



It is used for its tonic and astringent properties, jirincipallj in a domestic way, as 

 a remedy in diarrheal complaints. 



97225°— Bui. 219—11 2 



Fig. 1. 



-Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina), leaves, male and female 

 catkins. 



