Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coult.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Comptonia peregrina' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/comptonia/comptonia-peregrina/). Accessed 2026-03-16.

Family

Myricaceae

Genus

Comptonia

Common Names

Sweet Fern

Synonyms

Liquidambar peregrina L.
Comptonia peregrina var. tomentosa A.Chev.

Infraspecifics

var. asplenifolia

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Comptonia peregrina' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/comptonia/comptonia-peregrina/). Accessed 2026-03-16.

Comptonia peregrina makes an excellent foliage shrub in mixed borders as here at RHS Garden Rosemoor, Devon, UK. 18 September 2024. Image Tom Christian.

A deciduous shrub 2 to 4 ft high, with slender, often erect branches, very hairy when young. Leaves alternate, linear-oblong, tapered at both ends, 2 to 4 in. long, 1⁄3 to 5⁄8 in. wide, the blade deeply cleft (almost to the midrib) into broad, oblique, rounded lobes, 1⁄8 to 1⁄4 in. wide; dark green, downy; stalk 1⁄8 to 1⁄4 in. long. Male catkins cylindrical, 3⁄4 to 1 in. long, 1⁄6 in. wide; closely set with downy, broadly triangular, long-pointed bracts. Female inflorescence globular, each ovary surrounded by eight awl-shaped, downy scales, which give the fruit-cluster a bur-like appearance. Nut egg-shaped, 1⁄5 in. long, shining.

Native of eastern N. America; introduced in 1714, and long a favourite in gardens because of its beautifully cut, fern-like leaves, and pleasant bay-like scent. It likes a peaty soil and objects to lime.

The buds of Comptonia peregrina diagnose its affinity to the perhaps-better-known genus Myrica. RHS Garden Rosemoor, Devon, UK. 18 September 2024. Image Tom Christian.

The fern-like, aromatic foliage of Comptonia peregrina (Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, August 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

Comptonia peregrina.

var. asplenifolia (L.) Fern.

Synonyms
Myrica asplenifolia L. Comptonia asplenifolia (L.) Ait

Branchlets only faintly downy; leaves smaller than in the type, almost glabrous. It is found in the coastal plain from Long Island to Virginia, while typical C. peregrina, in various degrees of downiness, is confined to the mountains. Probably most or all of the plants grown in gardens as Comptonia asplenifolia belong to typical C. peregrina, not to the variety.