Sweetflag (Acorus calamus) and American Sweetflag (Acorus americanus)

Acorus calamus,(above image) commonly known as Sweet Flag or Calamus, and very erroneously as "rush" or "sedges", is a tall perennial wetland monocot of the Acoraceae family, in the genus Acorus. Other names include beewort, bitter pepper root, calamus root, flag root, gladdon, myrtle flag, myrtle grass, myrtle root, myrtle sedge, pine root, sea sedge, sweet cane, sweet case, sweet cinnamon, sweet grass, sweet myrtle, sweet root, sweet rush, and sweet sedge. The scented leaves and more strongly scented rhizomes have traditionally been used medicinally and to make fragrances, and the dried and powdered rhizome has also been used as a substitute for ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Probably indigenous to India or Arabia, Acorus calamus is now found across Europe, southern Russia, northern Asia Minor, southern Siberia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Australia, as well as southern Canada and the northern United States, where it may be, and often is, confused with diploid Acorus americanus.

• Rhizome can be eaten raw, but, cooking tenderizes.
• The rhizomes are best when first peeled then boiled braised, or roasted.
• central core of young shoots is edible raw
• Plants are both very effective insect repellents.

This work (image directly above only) is in the public domain because it is a work prepared(at taxpayer expense) by an officer or employee of the United States of The Americas government as part of that persons official duties.

Acorus americanus, known as sweetflag, inthe United States of the Americas; is an emergent wetland plant native to the Northern United States and to Canada. This perennial plant has bright green blade-shaped leaves that arise directly from the rhizomes and sheath into each other at the base. Additionally the blades have 2-6 raised veins, and a swollen centre when viewed in cross section. The foliage has a citrus-like spicy aromatic quality, and can be used to flavour beer. It is a flowering plant with inconspicuous flowers that are arranged on a lateral spadix (a thickened, fleshy axis) and the fertilized flowers produce berries with a jelly inside. In 1968 the Food and Drug Administration of the United States of The Americas banned acorus calamus from being used as a food additive and as a medicinal as a result of lab studies that involved supplementing the diets of lab animals over a prolonged period of time with massive doses of isolated chemicals  from the Indian Jammu strain of calamus. The plant was labeled procarcinogenic It is not clear whether the observed carcinogenic effects in rats are relevant to the human organism. However, most sources advise caution in ingesting strains other than the diploid strain.

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. Allrights reserved.