Comptonia is a monotypic genus (containing only Comptonia peregrina) in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. It is native to eastern North America, from southern Quebec south to the extreme north of Georgia, and west to Minnesota. The common name is sweetfern or sweet-fern, a confusing name as it is not a fern. Several fossil species, such as Comptonia colombiana have been described, showing that the genus once had a much wider distribution throughout the Northern Hemisphere.