BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Comptonia peregrina | Sweetfern 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Sweetfern is a low, deciduous, monoecious or dioecious shrub [10].  It
is drought and salt tolerant.  It grows from 1 to 4.5 feet (0.3-1.5 m)
high and has fragrant, pubescent foliage [10].  The alternate, simple
leaves are fernlike and 2.5 to 4.7 inches (6-12 cm) long [8,10,29].  The
catkins are clustered at the ends of the branches and are 1.2 to 1.6
inches (3-4 cm) long [29].  Seeds grow in burlike heads, with four per
fruit [31].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sweetfern reproduces by rhizomes and seed, although it is difficult to
propagate by seed and some after-ripening may be necessary [13,15].  It
spreads mainly by rhizomes, forming thickets in sun or partial shade
[16].  Sweetfern matures sexually in 2 to 3 years [17].  Seeds can
remain viable in the soil for as long as 70 years [7].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Sweetfern grows in openings in coniferous forests in well-drained, dry,
acid, sandy or gravelly soils [7,16].  Because it fixes nitrogen, it
does well on disturbed sites or sites with sterile soil, such as
abandoned fields and pine barrens [31,36].  In the Adirondack Mountains
of New York, it grows on limestone soils from 200 to 2,300 feet (61-700
m) elevation [20].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Sweetfern is a shade intolerant invader of newly opened canopies and
disturbed sites [17,22].  It appeared in early seral vegetation
following logging of an old-growth eastern white pine (pinus strobus)
forest in Connecticut [7].  It has also invaded disturbed forests in
central Canada [17].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
In the upper Midwest sweetfern blossoms in April and May and fruits
ripen in autumn.  In Canada sweetfern blossoms from May through June and
seeds mature from July through September [13].  In the northeastern
United States seeds mature in August [31].

Related categories for Species: Comptonia peregrina | Sweetfern