365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Sweetfern, Comptonia Peregrina
Day 285: The common name "Sweetfern" is misleading. Comptonia peregrina is not a fern. It is a deciduous shrub commonly found in the understory of Eastern pine forests. Reputedly difficult to establish from a slip taken in the wild, mine which began as a thready 12" stem with only a handful of leaves has matured into a densely foliated bush with very little encouragement on my part. It presently sprawls three feet wide and equally as tall, adding a lovely spicy fragrance to the air outside my kitchen door. Its seed pods are particularly fascinating. Although they look spiny, the "prickles" are quite soft. In its native environment, this shrub tends to be leggy and somewhat weedy in appearance, but as a garden plant, it provides an excellent backdrop of green for colorful flowers.
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