ARACEAE 



ARUM FAMILY 



SWEET FLAG 



Acortis 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 i 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 i 

 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 E., is found to 

 a limited degree only in the cold bogs of Lake and 

 McHenry counties. The solitary scape arises i 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 

 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 



