Index / Search / Comptonia peregrina
§1 Plant
Comptonia peregrina (L.) J.M. Coult.
vernacular sweet fern — species · Myricaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Myricaceae Rich. ex Kunth
- Genus
- Comptonia
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 379 counties across 23 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- Medium
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- Low
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- Low
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -38 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 100 min.
- Precipitation
- 30–60 in/yr
- pH range
- 4–7
- Root depth
- 14 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 2 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 2 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Moderate
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- White
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- Low
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- None
- Stratify
- Yes
- Seeds / lb
- 30,000
- Propagation
- cuttings, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- No Known Source
- Nursery stock
- No
- Browse palatability
- Medium
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 379 counties across 23 states/territories.
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 55 N ▾
- Alcona 26001
- Alger 26003
- Allegan 26005
- Alpena 26007
- Arenac 26011
- Baraga 26013
- Benzie 26019
- Berrien 26021
- Cheboygan 26031
- Chippewa 26033
- Clare 26035
- Crawford 26039
- Delta 26041
- Dickinson 26043
- Gladwin 26051
- Gogebic 26053
- Grand Traverse 26055
- Gratiot 26057
- Houghton 26061
- Iosco 26069
- Iron 26071
- Isabella 26073
- Jackson 26075
- Kalkaska 26079
- Kent 26081
- Keweenaw 26083
- Lake 26085
- Luce 26095
- Manistee 26101
- Marquette 26103
- Mason 26105
- Mecosta 26107
- Menominee 26109
- Midland 26111
- Missaukee 26113
- Monroe 26115
- Montcalm 26117
- Montmorency 26119
- Muskegon 26121
- Newaygo 26123
- Oakland 26125
- Oceana 26127
- Ogemaw 26129
- Ontonagon 26131
- Osceola 26133
- Oscoda 26135
- Otsego 26137
- Ottawa 26139
- Presque Isle 26141
- Roscommon 26143
- Saginaw 26145
- Schoolcraft 26153
- St. Clair 26147
- Wayne 26163
- Wexford 26165
Minnesota view state ↗ 12 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 17 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 42 N ▾
- Albany 36001
- Allegany 36003
- Bronx 36005
- Broome 36007
- Cattaraugus 36009
- Chautauqua 36013
- Chemung 36015
- Clinton 36019
- Columbia 36021
- Delaware 36025
- Dutchess 36027
- Erie 36029
- Essex 36031
- Greene 36039
- Hamilton 36041
- Kings 36047
- Livingston 36051
- Monroe 36055
- Montgomery 36057
- Nassau 36059
- New York 36061
- Oneida 36065
- Orange 36071
- Otsego 36077
- Putnam 36079
- Queens 36081
- Rensselaer 36083
- Richmond 36085
- Rockland 36087
- Saratoga 36091
- Schenectady 36093
- Schoharie 36095
- Suffolk 36103
- Sullivan 36105
- Tioga 36107
- Tompkins 36109
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Washington 36115
- Wayne 36117
- Westchester 36119
- Yates 36123
North Carolina view state ↗ 19 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 56 N ▾
- Adams 42001
- Allegheny 42003
- Armstrong 42005
- Bedford 42009
- Berks 42011
- Blair 42013
- Bradford 42015
- Bucks 42017
- Cambria 42021
- Cameron 42023
- Carbon 42025
- Centre 42027
- Chester 42029
- Clarion 42031
- Clearfield 42033
- Clinton 42035
- Columbia 42037
- Cumberland 42041
- Dauphin 42043
- Delaware 42045
- Elk 42047
- Forest 42053
- Franklin 42055
- Fulton 42057
- Huntingdon 42061
- Jefferson 42065
- Juniata 42067
- Lackawanna 42069
- Lancaster 42071
- Lebanon 42075
- Lehigh 42077
- Luzerne 42079
- Lycoming 42081
- McKean 42083
- Mifflin 42087
- Monroe 42089
- Montgomery 42091
- Northampton 42095
- Northumberland 42097
- Perry 42099
- Philadelphia 42101
- Pike 42103
- Potter 42105
- Schuylkill 42107
- Snyder 42109
- Somerset 42111
- Sullivan 42113
- Susquehanna 42115
- Tioga 42117
- Union 42119
- Venango 42121
- Warren 42123
- Wayne 42127
- Westmoreland 42129
- Wyoming 42131
- York 42133
Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 39 N ▾
- Albemarle 51003
- Alleghany 51005
- Amherst 51009
- Appomattox 51011
- Augusta 51015
- Bath 51017
- Bedford 51019
- Botetourt 51023
- Buckingham 51029
- Campbell 51031
- Carroll 51035
- Chesterfield 51041
- Craig 51045
- Fauquier 51061
- Franklin 51067
- Frederick 51069
- Giles 51071
- Grayson 51077
- Hanover 51085
- Henry 51089
- James City 51095
- Madison 51113
- Montgomery 51121
- Nelson 51125
- Page 51139
- Patrick 51141
- Pittsylvania 51143
- Prince William 51153
- Pulaski 51155
- Rappahannock 51157
- Roanoke 51161
- Rockbridge 51163
- Rockingham 51165
- Shenandoah 51171
- Southampton 51175
- Suffolk (city) 51800
- Surry 51181
- Wythe 51197
- York 51199
West Virginia view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 41 N ▾
- Adams 55001
- Ashland 55003
- Barron 55005
- Bayfield 55007
- Brown 55009
- Burnett 55013
- Chippewa 55017
- Clark 55019
- Columbia 55021
- Door 55029
- Douglas 55031
- Dunn 55033
- Eau Claire 55035
- Florence 55037
- Forest 55041
- Green Lake 55047
- Iron 55051
- Jackson 55053
- Langlade 55067
- Lincoln 55069
- Marathon 55073
- Marinette 55075
- Marquette 55077
- Menominee 55078
- Monroe 55081
- Oconto 55083
- Oneida 55085
- Portage 55097
- Price 55099
- Rusk 55107
- Sauk 55111
- Sawyer 55113
- Shawano 55115
- Taylor 55119
- Trempealeau 55121
- Vilas 55125
- Washburn 55129
- Waupaca 55135
- Waushara 55137
- Winnebago 55139
- Wood 55141
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/COPE80 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/5414197 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T09:28:40Z