USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



(gathered preferably in the autumn) in cold water, 

 in the proportion of one-half ounce of bark to a pint 

 of water, enjoys a reputation both as a mild sedative 

 suited to cases of nervous excitability and as a tonic 

 adapted to debility and impaired digestion. Also 

 of popular esteem as a stimulant to digestion and a 

 remedy for dyspeptic conditions is the root of the 

 Sweet-flag or Calamus {Acorus Calamus, L.). This 

 plant is a denizen of swamps and stream borders 

 throughout the eastern United States, usually grow- 

 ing directly in the water and often in company with 

 cat-tails. Its erect, sword-like leaves, three to four 

 feet tall, are pleasantly aromatic, and this fragrance 

 serves to distinguish the plant, when out of flower, 

 from the somewhat similar-looking Blue-flag or Iris, 

 whose roots are reputed to be poisonous. The 

 Sweet-flag belongs to the Arum family, and its flow- 

 ering is as curious as inconspicuous, being produced 

 as a compact, greenish spike from the side of a stalk, 

 the interior of which is sweet. The rootstock, dug 

 in the autumn or spring, washed and then dried, 

 is chewed as a stomachic. The unpeeled root is more 

 eflScacious than the peeled. 



It was the popularity of the Old World Pennyroyal 

 doubtless that first caused attention to be directed 

 to a little minty annual common in dry soil and old 



193 



