Acorus calamus. 67 
dric spike of flowers, proceeding from the side of the stem at the 
edge of the leaf, which spike is generally single, sometimes double, 
and more rarely triple, or quadruple. It grows naturally on the banks 
of rivers, and in shallow standing waters; and is found in many 
parts of England; and plentifully in the standing waters and canals 
of Holland, and is, besides, common in many parts of Europe.”* The 
other variety is called the Indian calamus, and grows not only in 
marshy ditches, but in more elevated and dry places in Malabar, 
Ceylon, Amboyna, and other parts of the East Indies; it is said to 
differ little from the European, except in being a little more tender 
and narrow, and of a more hot and pungent taste. The shops are 
usually supplied with this article from the Levant: but such roots are 
said not to be superior to those of the plant indigenous to England ; 
and the same may be said respecting that indigenous to the United 
States, a figure of which is here given. 
The root is perennial, rugose, horizontal, jointed, somewhat com- 
pressed, from half an inch to an inch thick, and from six inches to 
two feet long, sending off from the base, a great number of small and 
large round fibres, which are sometimes white, and often yellow. 
The joints are from half an inch to an inch long. They are white, 
tinged by triangular shades of sienna, rose-red and bistre, and often 
covered with numerous round elevated spots, occasioned generally 
by the insertion of the fibrous portions which have fallen off. From 
these joints, and from the point between the lateral union of the roots, 
* Edit. Article Acorus. Rees’s Ency. 
