Acorus calamus (Sweet Flag) - habit and habitat
Owthorpe Fish Ponds, Nottinghamshire SK63R.
The ponds were in the grounds of Owthorpe Hall, which burned down and was demolished by 1832.
Acorus calamus (Sweet-flag, Sweet Sedge, Sweet Grass, Sweet Rush, Myrtle Flag) was grown by Gerard by 1596 and recorded from the wild in Christopher Merrett’s 1666 Pinax. Charles Deering wrote in his 1738 Flora of Nottingham, “Grows plentifully in the River Soar I many Spots, between Kegworth and Loughborough”. By the time the Howitts wrote their 1963 Flora of Nottinghamshire it was locally frequent in lakes, canals and rivers, including the Erewash and Trent as well as the Soar, although then as now it did not flower in the Trent.
Deering also wrote, “The spicy Bitterness of the Root of this Plant bespeaks it a strengthener of the Stomach and Head, and therefore may fitly be put into any Composition of that Intention. The Root preserved may with good Success be used by itself, and both the Germans and Turks are very fond of it, and reckon it a great Preservative against infectious Air, which makes them commonly eat a Piece of the preserved Root fasting. The Leaves having a very grateful Flavour are by some nice Cooks but into Sauce for Fish.” By the time Mrs Grieve’s Modern Herbal was published in 1931 the fluid extract was still an official preparation in the United States but not in the British Pharmacopoeia, although it was much used in herbal medicine as an aromatic bitter, with its properties accounted for by the volatile oil although little was known of its chemistry at that time. She noted it was formerly much esteemed as an aromatic stimulant and mild tonic, also acted as a carminative and she details pages of other uses. Richard Mabey’s New Herbal reported the Food and Drugs Administration in the USA banned its use as a remedy due to the presence of aserone in the essential oil, but rhizomes from Europe had low concentrations compared with those from India and no cases of malignancy were reported in mill or mine workers who chewed the rhizome. This was chewed for its mild sedative effect, whether for toothache or to break tobacco addiction. Mabey also wrote, “it is good for the stomach and bowel because it stimulates the salivary glands and production of stomach juices, helping to counter acidity and ease heartburn and dyspepsia. It also eases flatulence and relaxes the bowel, reducing catarrhal states of the mucous membranes.”
Acorus calamus (Sweet Flag) - habit and habitat
Owthorpe Fish Ponds, Nottinghamshire SK63R.
The ponds were in the grounds of Owthorpe Hall, which burned down and was demolished by 1832.
Acorus calamus (Sweet-flag, Sweet Sedge, Sweet Grass, Sweet Rush, Myrtle Flag) was grown by Gerard by 1596 and recorded from the wild in Christopher Merrett’s 1666 Pinax. Charles Deering wrote in his 1738 Flora of Nottingham, “Grows plentifully in the River Soar I many Spots, between Kegworth and Loughborough”. By the time the Howitts wrote their 1963 Flora of Nottinghamshire it was locally frequent in lakes, canals and rivers, including the Erewash and Trent as well as the Soar, although then as now it did not flower in the Trent.
Deering also wrote, “The spicy Bitterness of the Root of this Plant bespeaks it a strengthener of the Stomach and Head, and therefore may fitly be put into any Composition of that Intention. The Root preserved may with good Success be used by itself, and both the Germans and Turks are very fond of it, and reckon it a great Preservative against infectious Air, which makes them commonly eat a Piece of the preserved Root fasting. The Leaves having a very grateful Flavour are by some nice Cooks but into Sauce for Fish.” By the time Mrs Grieve’s Modern Herbal was published in 1931 the fluid extract was still an official preparation in the United States but not in the British Pharmacopoeia, although it was much used in herbal medicine as an aromatic bitter, with its properties accounted for by the volatile oil although little was known of its chemistry at that time. She noted it was formerly much esteemed as an aromatic stimulant and mild tonic, also acted as a carminative and she details pages of other uses. Richard Mabey’s New Herbal reported the Food and Drugs Administration in the USA banned its use as a remedy due to the presence of aserone in the essential oil, but rhizomes from Europe had low concentrations compared with those from India and no cases of malignancy were reported in mill or mine workers who chewed the rhizome. This was chewed for its mild sedative effect, whether for toothache or to break tobacco addiction. Mabey also wrote, “it is good for the stomach and bowel because it stimulates the salivary glands and production of stomach juices, helping to counter acidity and ease heartburn and dyspepsia. It also eases flatulence and relaxes the bowel, reducing catarrhal states of the mucous membranes.”