Plants › wax trees and shrubs
sweetfern
Comptonia peregrina
29 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Easily confused with
Sweet FernPteris macilenta
honey locustGleditsia triacanthos
bog myrtleMyrica gale
sensitive fernOnoclea sensibilis
alder buckthornFrangula alnus
cinnamon fernOsmundastrum cinnamomeum
common yarrowAchillea millefolium
common brackenPteridium aquilinum
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 26,697 |
|---|---|
| Canada | 5,959 |
| Massachusetts | 4,377 |
| Ontario | 3,207 |
| Maine | 2,580 |
| New York | 2,083 |
| Nova Scotia | 1,703 |
| Minnesota | 1,493 |
| New Hampshire | 1,439 |
| Wisconsin | 1,435 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Group and habits
- Medicinal useListed as having medicinal use by a harvested source. This is not medical advice.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
- Restoration or landscaping useListed as being used for restoration, landscaping, ornamental planting, erosion control, soil improvement, shade, windbreaks, pollution indicators, or wastewater purification.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
- Shrub growth formListed by a harvested source as having a shrub or bush growth form.USDA PLANTS Characteristics
- Subshrub growth formListed by a harvested source as having a subshrub growth form.USDA PLANTS Characteristics
- Perennial plantListed by a harvested source as having a perennial life duration.USDA PLANTS Characteristics
- Nitrogen fixingDescends from a plant lineage commonly associated with nitrogen-fixing symbioses.Inferred from its group
Edibility, toxicity and medicinal traits are records from datasets, not advice. Never eat, handle or use a wild species on the strength of an app.
Classification
| Kingdom | Plants · Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Vascular Plants · Tracheophyta |
| Class | Dicots · Magnoliopsida |
| Order | beeches, oaks, walnuts, and allies · Fagales |
| Family | wax trees and shrubs · Myricaceae |
| Genus | sweet-ferns · Comptonia |
Study it in a deck
- Beeches, oaks, walnuts, and allies of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Medicinal Plants of Baltimore County
- Native Plants of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Trees of Maryland
Or build your own from the species near you.
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- Traits: Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (CC BY 4.0)
- Traits: USDA PLANTS Characteristics (U.S. Government work / public domain)
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise sweetfern with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.