Common Sweet Flag
Sweet flag
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Acorales Family: Acoraceae Genus: Acorus Species: A. calamus
Binomial name
Acorus calamus L.

Calamus or Common Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus) is a plant from the Acoraceae family, Acorus genues. It is a tall perennial wetland monocot with scented leaves and rhizomes which have been used medicinally, for its odor, and as a psychotropic drug. It is known by a variety of names, including cinnamon sedge, flagroot, gladdon, myrtle flag, myrtle grass, myrtle sedge, sweet cane, sweet myrtle, sweet root, sweet rush, and sweet sedge. Probably indigenous to India, Acorus calamus is now found across Europe, in southern Russia, northern Asia Minor, southern Siberia, China, Japan, Burma, Sri Lanka, and northern USA. Download high resolution version (825x587, 52 KB)Acorus calamus (Sweet Flag) - spadix Downloaded from : [[1]] This image is not copyrighted and may be freely used for any purpose. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo Gnetophyta—gnetae Magnoliophyta—flowering plants... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. ... Liliopsida is the botanical name for a class. ... Species Acorus calamus Acorus gramineus Acorus is a genus of monocot flowering plants. ... Species Acorus calamus Acorus gramineus Acorus is a genus of monocot flowering plants. ... Species Acorus calamus Acorus gramineus Acorus is a genus of monocot flowering plants. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 23, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo Gnetophyta—gnetae Magnoliophyta—flowering plants... Species Acorus calamus Acorus gramineus Acorus is a genus of monocot flowering plants. ... Species Acorus calamus Acorus gramineus Acorus is a genus of monocot flowering plants. ... Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... Orders Base Monocots: Acorus Alismatales Asparagales Dioscoreales Liliales Pandanales Family Petrosaviaceae Commelinids: Arecales Commelinales Poales Zingiberales Family Dasypogonaceae Monocotyledons or monocots are a group of flowering plants usually ranked as a class and once called the Monocotyledoneae. ... Olfaction, the sense of smell, is the detection of chemicals dissolved in air (or, by animals that breathe water, in water). ... Ginger rhizome A rhizome is, in botany, a usually underground, horizontal stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. ... An assortment of psychoactive drugs A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. ...

Botanical information

The morphological distinction between the Acorus species is made by the number of prominent leaf veins. Acorus calamus has a single prominent midvein and then on both sides slightly raised secondary veins (with a diameter less than half the midvein) and many, fine tertiary veins. This makes it clearly distinct from Acorus americanus. The term morphology in biology refers to the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern) of an organism or taxon and its component parts. ... “Foliage” redirects here. ...

The leaves are between 0.7 and 1.7 cm wide, with average of 1 cm. The sympodial leaf of Acorus calamus is somewhat shorter than the vegetative leaves. The margin is curly-edged or undulate. The spadix, at the time of expansion, can reach a length between 4.9 and 8.9 cm (longer than A. americanus). The flowers are longer too, between 3 and 4 mm. Acorus calamus is infertile and shows an abortive ovary with a shriveled appearance. Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ... Longitudinal section of female flower of squash showing ovary, ovules, pistil, and petals In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. ...

Chemistry

Both triploid and tetraploid calamus contain asarone, but diploid does not contain any. Asarone, which includes alpha and beta types, is an ether found in certain plants such as acorus and mugwort. ...

Regulations

Calamus and products derived from calamus (such as its oil) were banned in 1968 as food additives and medicines by the United States Food and Drug Administration. hi “FDA” redirects here. ...

Usage

Calamus has been an item of trade in many cultures for thousands of years. Calamus has been used medicinally for a wide variety of ailments.

In antiquity in the Orient and Egypt, the rhizome was thought to be a powerful aphrodisiac. In Europe Acorus calamus was often added to wine, and the root is also one of the possible ingredients of absinthe. Among the northern Native Americans, it is used both medicinally and as a stimulant; in addition, the root is thought to have been used as an entheogen among the northern Native Americans. In high doses, it is hallucinogenic. A reservoir glass filled with a naturally colored verte next to an absinthe spoon. ... Stimulants are drugs that temporarily increase alertness and wakefulness. ... This entry covers entheogens in the strict sense of the word (i. ... The general group of pharmacological agents commonly known as hallucinogens can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. ...

illustration from an 1885 flora

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1455x2318, 965 KB) Name Acorus calamus Family Acoraceae Original book source: Prof. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1455x2318, 965 KB) Name Acorus calamus Family Acoraceae Original book source: Prof. ...

Cultural symbolism

The calamus has long been a symbol of male love. The name is associated with a Greek myth: Kalamos, a son of the river-god Maeander, who loved Karpos, the son of Zephyrus and Chloris. When Karpos drowned, Kalamos was transformed into a reed, whose rustling in the wind was interpreted as a sigh of lamentation. Kalamos is a Greek word meaning reed, from which comes stories of the Greek mythological figure Kalamos, the son of Maiandros (aka Meander), god of the Meander River. ... The Maeander River is the classical Latin name for the Büyük Menderes River in southwestern Turkey. ... Karpos (or Carpus) was a Greek mythological figure, whose name in Greek means fruit. He is the son of Zephyros (the west wind) and Khloris (spring, or new vegetation), together forming a natural metaphor — the west wind comes with the new growth of spring, which later bears fruit. ... Zephyr and Hyakinth; Attic red figure cup from Tarquinia, circa 480 BCE. Boston Museum of Fine Arts. ... As she talks, her lips breathe spring roses: I was Chloris, who am now called Flora. ...

The plant was a favorite of Henry David Thoreau (who called it sweet flag), and also of Walt Whitman, who added a section called The Calamus Poems, celebrating the love of men, to the third edition of Leaves of Grass (1860). In the poems the calamus is used as a symbol of love, lust, and affection. It has been suggested that the symbology derives from the visual resemblance of the spadix to the erect human penis. Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau[1]) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance... Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819–March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

The name Sweet Flag refers to its sweet scent (it has been used as a strewing herb) and the wavy edges of the leaves which are supposed to resemble a fluttering flag.

In Japan, the plant is a symbol of the samurai's bravery because of its sharp sword-like leaves. Even now many families with young boys enjoy "Sweet Flag Bath (shōbu yu)" in the Boy's Festival (Tango no Sekku) on May 5. For other uses, see Samurai (disambiguation). ... Koinobori (The top, large carp is considered as a father, the second, red carp as a mother, and the third, little carp as a child. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Etymology of the word Calamus

Cognates of the Latin word Calamus are found in both Greek (kalamos, meaning "reed") and Sanskrit (kalama, meaning "reed" and "pen" as well as a sort of rice) — strong evidence that the word is older than all three languages and exists in their parent language, Proto-Indo European. The Arabic word qalam (meaning "pen") is likely to have been borrowed from one of these languages in antiquity, or directly from Indo-European itself. Look up cognate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Kalamos is a Greek word meaning reed, from which comes stories of the Greek mythological figure Kalamos, the son of Maiandros (aka Meander), god of the Meander River. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... See Pie (disambiguation) for other uses of PIE. The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ...

From the Latin root "calamus", a number of modern English words arise:

• calamari, meaning "squid", via the Latin calamarium, "ink horn" or "pen case", as reeds were then used as writing implements;
• calumet, another name for the Native American peace pipe, which was often made from a hollow reed;
• shawm, a medieval oboe-like instrument (whose sound is produced by a vibrating reed mouthpiece);
• chalumeau register, the lower notes of a clarinet's range (another reed instrument).

Look up Calamari in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... A Lakota (Sioux) peace pipe pipestem, without the pipe itself, displayed at the United States Library of Congress A peace pipe, also called a calumet or medicine pipe, is a ceremonial smoking pipe used by many Native American tribes, traditionally as a token of peace. ... The shawm was a Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family, made in Europe from the late 13th century until the 17th century. ... The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... Reed instruments are musical instruments; they are members of the woodwind family. ...

External links

• Family Araceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. http://delta-intkey.com
• FDA street drug alternative warning letter
• Acorus calamus at Plants for a Future

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Acorus calamus