Envoy at 13:29, 4 August 2007

2007-08-04T13:29:59Z

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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Common Sweet Flag
| image = Acorus calamus1.jpg
| image_width = 200px
| image_caption = Sweet flag
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Acorales]]
| familia = [[Acoraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Acorus]]''
| species = '''''A. calamus'''''
| binomial = ''Acorus calamus''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''Calamus''' or '''Common Sweet Flag''' (''Acorus calamus'') is a [[plant]] from the [[Acoraceae]] family, [[Acorus]] genues. It is a tall [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[wetland]] [[monocot]] with [[scent]]ed leaves and [[rhizome]]s which have been used medicinally, for its odor, and as a [[Psychoactive drug|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.

==Botanical information==
The [[Morphology (biology)|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 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 (plants)|ovary]] with a shriveled appearance.

== Chemistry ==
Both triploid and tetraploid calamus contain [[asarone]], but diploid does not contain any.

== 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]].

== 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 [[Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants|hallucinogenic]].

[[Image:Illustration Acorus calamus0.jpg|thumb|right|250px|illustration from an 1885 flora]]

== 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.

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 reed to the erect human penis.

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 [[Kodomo_no_hi|Boy's Festival]] (Tango no Sekku) on [[May 5]].

==Etymology of the word Calamus==
[[Cognate]]s of the [[Latin]] word ''Calamus'' are found in both [[Greek language|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 language|Arabic]] word ''qalam'' (meaning "pen") is likely to have been borrowed from one of these languages in antiquity, or directly from Indo-European itself.

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 Americans in the United States|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]]).

==External links==
* [http://delta-intkey.com/angio/www/araceae.htm Family Araceae] in [http://delta-intkey.com/angio/ L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.] http://delta-intkey.com
* [http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/ephedra/warningsample.html FDA street drug alternative warning letter]
* [http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Acorus+calamus ''Acorus calamus'' at Plants for a Future]

{{Commons|Acorus calamus}}

[[Category:Acorales]]
[[Category:Spices]]
[[Category:Entheogens]]
[[Category:Herbal and fungal hallucinogens]]
[[Category:Herbal and fungal stimulants]]
[[Category:Absinthe]]

Sweet Flag - Revision history

Envoy at 13:29, 4 August 2007