Old Hairy Nuts

Day 307: The leafy foliage of Comptonia peregrina suggested that of ferns to early settlers on the east coast who dubbed the plant "Sweetfern," a term which also makes reference to the scent which rises from it. In its native habitat, it often forms dense colonies, but as a landscaping plant, it can be kept pruned back to be a manageable shrub. Some sources call it "invasive," but in my experience, the occasional runner which comes to the surface ten feet away is easily and permanently removed by cutting close to the parent plant. It is difficult to transplant or slip and should not be disturbed once it is established. My parent plant now sports a trunk as thick as my wrist, and I keep it pruned into a loose three-foot globe at the end of the flower bed closest to the kitchen door where its fragrance greets me when I step out to feed the birds. As the common name suggests, the odor is somewhat sweet, somewhat spicy, vaguely reminiscent of cinnamon or perhaps snickerdoodle cookies. It is particularly apparent on warm afternoons. It produces nutlets in hairy clusters near the tips of the branches. Each nutlet holds four seeds. My efforts to start Comptonia from seed have not been successful.