Calamus
Missing image Illustration_Acorus_calamus0.jpg Acorus calamsu
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Acorales Family: Acoraceae Genus: Acorus Species: calamus
Binomial name
Acorus calamus Linnaeus,

Calamus or Sweet flag (Acorus calamus) is a plant from the Acoraceae family. 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.

Contents

1 Botany 2 Chemistry 3 Regulations 4 Usage 5 Cultural symbolism 6 External links

Botany

Acorus calamus is categorized into 3 varieties based on number of its chromosomes: americanus (diploid chromosomes), vulgaris (triploid chromosomes) and angustatus (tetraploid chromosomes). Americanus is native to North America, Siberia and temperate Asia. Vulgaris is native to Europe, temperate India and the Himalayas. Angustatus is native to tropical Southeast Asia, Japan and Taiwan. Acorus from Europe, China and Japan have been planted in the United States.

Acorus gramineus is the only other member of the Acorus genus.

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 used medicinally for a variety of ailments.

Calamus has been used as a "street drug alternative".

Cultural symbolism

The calamus has long been a symbol of male love. The name is taken from Greek myth: Kalamos, a son of the river-god Maeander, who loved Karpos, the son of Zephyus. When Karpus drowned, Kalamos was transformed into a reed, whose rustling in the wind was interpreted as a sigh of lamentation.

Walt Whitman added a section called The Calamus Poems, celebrating the love of men, to the third edition of Leaves of Grass, published in 1860, and in which the calamus is used as a symbol of love, lust, and affection. It has been suggested that the symbology derives from the visual resemblane of the reed to the erect human penis.

External links

Section Miscellaneous information

• Family Araceae (http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/angio/www/araceae.htm)
• Sweet Flag (http://www.killerplants.com/weird-plants/20020516.asp) how various species arrived in America @ killerplants.com
• FDA street drug alternative warning letter (http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/ephedra/warningsample.html)
• Image of Acorus calamus from 'Flora von Deutschland �sterreich und der Schweiz' (http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/thome/band1/tafel_042.html)
• Acorus calamus at plants for a future (http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Acorus+calamus)

Section Eclectic herbal information

• Acorus calamus (Sweet Flag) (http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings/acorus.html) King's American Dispensatory @ Henriette's Herbal
• Sedge, Sweet (http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/sedges39.html) Mrs. Grieve's "A Modern Herbal" @ Botanical.com

be:Аер bg:Блатен аир de:Kalmus es:Acorus calamus fr:Acore odorant ja:ショウブ