Sweet Fern - Lois Nestel Archive

 From Lois Nestel's "Wayside Bounty" archives:

"Wayside Bounty" serves as an account of roughly 40 local plants which
Lois Nestel collected in the Cable area and prepared for use in cooking.

"A common shrub of poor soils is the fragrant sweet fern, a name which is somewhat misleading for although the foliage is fern-like the stems and branches are woody and usually hairy on the new growth.

"The aromatic twigs and leaves were used long before the days of air-fresheners to dispel unpleasant odors, especially in sick rooms. While this is unnecessary today the clean fragrance is still one of the most refreshing odors of the outdoors.

Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina) is a deciduous shrub which
grows in dry, sandy soils.

"Sweet fern leaves, when dried, make a palatable tea which, when drunk in quantity for the specific use, produces perspiration without increasing body heat. This tea is also an authenticated remedy for internal worms. 

"In July nutlets set in hairy clusters at the tips of twigs make a tasty nibble even though too small to be worth gathering for any use beyond this. 

"As common to our area as the sage is to the West, its virtues deserve more recognition."

Intentional landscaping around the Museum's main campus has led to a considerable patch of sweet fern along the building's southeastern berm. Our Naturalists, and as I expect, visitors too, enjoy the wafting fragrance of the plant as we hold out fingers to brush against the leaves while walking by.