Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina)
Many plants and animals are logically named: Common winterberry (Ilex verticillata) produces berries that last through the winter; Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) have a black “cap”; and Beach peas (Lathyrus japonicus var maritimus) are a species of pea that thrives on beaches and dunes. Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina), however, is much less logically named, as it is neither a fern nor (in my opinion) sweet. Ferns belong to a class of vascular plants that produce spores, rather than flowers and…