ARACEAE ARUM FAMILY 
SWEET FLAG 
Acorus Calamus L. 
The Sweet Flag is found in swamps and along streams 
throughout Illinois, and its range extends westward from Nova 
Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Kansas. 
It also occurs in Europe and Asia. 
The thick underground stem is very aromatic 
and contains a drug, calamus, that is much used 
in medicine. From this stem arise the sword- 
shaped, vertical leaves, 2-6 feet tall and 1 inch 
or less wide, which are characteristically yellow- 
ish green. 
The tall stem bearing the inflorescence is 
somewhat triangular and extends far beyond the 
flowers, which appear as an upright compact 
cluster on its side. The flowers are yellowish 
green and cover the whole surface of the spadix. 
Each has 6 very thin sepals, 6 stamens and 1 
pistil. The blooming season is May to July. 
The fruit, a few-seeded berry, gelatinous 
inside, is rarely formed in our region, and the 
plant spreads here into large compact colonies 
almost entirely by means of its underground 
stems. 
The Water Arum, Calla palustris L., is found to 
a limited degree only in the cold bogs of Lake and 
McHenry counties. The solitary scape arises 1 foot 
from a long creeping rootstock and bears the yellow- 
ish white flowers, which greatly resemble the Calla 
Lily but are much smaller. The long-petioled leaves 
ts 
are heart shaped and the fruits are bright red, few-seeded berries. 
Magnolias edge the placid lily pool 
And flank the sagging seat, whence vista leads 
To blaze of rhododendrons banked in green. 
Azaleas by the scarlet quince flame up 
Against the lustrous grape vines trellised high 
To pigeon cote and old brick wall where hide 
First snowdrops and the bravest violets. 
' The Garden—GERTRUDE HUNTINGTON MCGIFFERT 
43 
