Sweet Flag
(Acorus calamus)
calamus root, grass myrtle, sweet rush

Description: The fleshy rootstocks grow in matted masses, 1-3 feet long. The long leaves are sword-shaped. Roots and leaves have a spicy smell. The three-angled scape is nearly as tall as the leaves, covered with tiny yellow green flowers. The tapering, fingerlike, yellow-green spadix juts at an angle from the 3-sided stem. It is distinguished from the poisonous irises or Blue Flag, with its dull, blue green, odorless leaves. Found in the Pacific West in swamps, marshy grounds, and shallow lakes.

Edible, Medicinal: The leaf buds and tender inner parts of the stem are used in salads, roots can be candied. It is a carminative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, sedative, and stomachic. The root tea helps in stomach problems, stimulates appetite, relieves acute and chronic dyspepsia, and gastritis. Steep 1 teaspoon of the rootstock in 1/2 cup water for 5 minutes. Take 1 cup a day or take 10 drops of the tincture 3 times a day. Make a decoction of the rootstock for a bath additive which helps insomnia and tense nerves.