PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 9 
SWEET FERN. 
Compton peregrina (L.) Coulter. 
Synonyms.—Comptonia asplenifolia Gaertn.; Myrica asplenifolia L..; Liquidambar 
asplenifolia L.; Liquidambar peregrina L. 
Other common names.—Fern gale, fern bush, meadow fern, shrubby fern, Canada 
sweet 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 
6 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 
flowers 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 Fig. 1.—Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina), leaves, male and female 
eight awl-shaped bractlets catkins: 
persisting and surround- 
ing the one-seeded, shining, light-brown nut, giving ita 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 (Myricacez). 
Collection, prices, and uses.—The entire plant is used, but especially the leaves 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, principally in a domestic way, as 
a remedy in diarrheal complaints. 
97225°—Bul. 219—11——2 
