BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS VoL. 28, No. 3 
SEPTEMBER 1980 
THE ETHNOBOTANY OF SWEET FLAG 
AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 
GEORGE R. MORGAN* 
The aromatic arum commonly known as Sweet Flag (Acorus 
Calamus L. of the Araceae) is an ancient and widely used 
medicinal plant. The plant’s pungent-tasting rhizomes have been 
utilized as a medicine for many kinds of ailments, especially 
those relating to the respiratory and digestive systems. Also, 
many peoples have used the rhizomes as a tonic and stimulant, 
particularly Indian tribes of the western interior of North 
America. European peoples have employed the rhizomes as a 
flavoring agent in liquors, gin, beer and ice cream; they have also 
utilized the plant in perfumes, snuff and hair powder. New 
Englanders still continue to sugar and slice rhizomes for 
confectionary. Southern blacks used the rootstocks as a condi- 
ment; their consumption of the plant was mentioned in the 
classic folklore stories of “Uncle Remus” (Harper, 1936). Plains 
Indians were said to attribute mystic powers to Sweet Flag 
(Gilmore, 1919); the Pawnee mystery ceremonies included songs 
about Sweet Flag (Gilmore, 1919). In North Dakota, Calamus 
was used by Siouan shamans in a “holy dance” (wakan wacipi) 
(Howard, 1953). 
Although the plant is usually called Sweet Flag, many other 
common names call attention to the sweet-smelling aerial stems 
or the aromatic rhizomes: Sweet Cane, Sweet Grass, Sweet 
Myrtle, Sweet Rush, Sweet Sedge, or Sweet Root. In 1860, 
Henry David Thoreau described the plant as having as agreeable 
and “peculiar frangrance” (Thoreau, 1860). 
The aromatic stems and leaves of Sweet Flag inspired Walt 
Whitman to write a set of thirty-nine poems known as the 
“Calamus poems,” which he included in his Leaves of Grass (3rd 
ed., 1860). Scented Calamus was strewn on church floors in 
*Visiting Scholar in Ethnobotany, Botanical Museum, Harvard University (1980). 
Present address: Chadron State College, Geography Department, Chadron, Nebraska. 
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