Taxon: Acorus calamus L.

Summary

Genus:

Acorus

Family:

Acoraceae

Nomen number:

1358

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 1:324. 1753

Protologue link:

https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358343

Typification:

View in Linnean Typification Project

Verified:

04/28/2000 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

3 (2 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Autonym(s)
Acorus calamus L. var. calamus

Images (5 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
BernhardSmith, A. 1923. Poisonous plants of all countries, 2nd ed. Note: poisonous
Birdsey, M. R. 1951. The cultivated aroids 8.
Bisset, N. G., ed. 1994. Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. A handbook for practice on a scientific basis CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. Note: translation of German edition by M. Wichtl, ed.
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 52-53.
Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980-. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon.
Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
Der Marderosian, A. & L. Liberti. 1988. Natural product medicine: a scientific guide to foods, drugs, cosmetics Note: poisonous
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, ed. 2
Govaerts, R. & D. G. Frodin. 2002. World checklist and bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae).
Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.
Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: higher plants of California
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Kala, C. P. et al. 2004. Prioritization of medicinal plants on the basis of available knowledge, existing practices and use value status in Uttaranchal, India. Biodivers. & Conservation 13:459.
Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Mabberley, D. J. 1997. The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants, ed. 2 8-9.
Magness, J. R. et al. 1971. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Motley, T. J. 1994. The ethnobotany of sweet flag, Acorus calamus (Araceae). Econ. Bot. 48:397-412.
Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
Wyk, B.-E. van et al. 2009. Medicinal plants of South Africa Note: Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa
2018. Mid-Atlantic invasive plant species (on-line resource)

Common names

Language	Name	note	seq	Citation
English	calamus		1	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
English	flagroot		1	Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
English	myrtle-flag		1	Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
English	sweet calamus		1	Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
English	sweet-flag		1	Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
English	sweetroot		1	Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
Afrikaans	kalmoes		2	Wyk, B.-E. van et al. 2009. Medicinal plants of South Africa Note: Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa
English (Canada)	European sweetflag	Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada official name	2	Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 52-53.
French	acore calame		2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French	acore odorant		2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French	acore vrai		2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French (Canada)	acore roseau	Agriculture & Agroalimentaire Canada nom officiel	2	Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 52-53.
German	Kalmus		2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Italian	calamo		2	Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986-1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols.
Spanish	calamís		2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	cálamo aromático		2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	kalmus		2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Armenia			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Azerbaijan			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Georgia			Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Japan
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Korea, South			Govaerts, R. & D. G. Frodin. 2002. World checklist and bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae).
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Mongolia	Mongolia
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Russian Far East	Russian Federation	Amur		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Russian Far East	Russian Federation	Habarovskij kraj		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Russian Far East	Russian Federation	Primorye		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Buryatia		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Chita		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Gorno-Altay		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Irkutsk		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Krasnoyarsk		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Tyva, Respublika		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Yakutia-Sakha		Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Afghanistan
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Iran
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Turkey			Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Bangladesh
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Bhutan			Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India		n.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Nepal			Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Pakistan
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Sri Lanka			Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980-. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Thailand
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Vietnam
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Indonesia	Jawa
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Indonesia	Sulawesi
2	Cultivated	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa			Wyk, B.-E. van et al. 2009. Medicinal plants of South Africa Note: Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa
4	Naturalized					natzd. elsewhere	Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	New Brunswick		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Nova Scotia		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Ontario		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Québec		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Illinois		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Iowa		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Kansas		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Minnesota		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Missouri		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Nebraska		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Oklahoma		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	South Dakota		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Wisconsin		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Connecticut		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Indiana		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maine		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Massachusetts		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Michigan		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New Hampshire		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New Jersey		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New York		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Ohio		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Pennsylvania		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Rhode Island		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Vermont		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	West Virginia		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Colorado		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Oregon		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Alabama		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Arkansas		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Delaware		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	District of Columbia		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Georgia		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Kentucky		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Louisiana		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maryland		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Mississippi		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	North Carolina		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	South Carolina		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Tennessee		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Virginia		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	California		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.

Native
Asia-Temperate

WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey
CAUCASUS: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
SIBERIA: Russian Federation [Buryatia, Chita, Gorno-Altay, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Tyva, Respublika, Yakutia-Sakha]
MONGOLIA: Mongolia
RUSSIAN FAR EAST: Russian Federation [Habarovskij kraj, Primorye, Amur]
CHINA: China
EASTERN ASIA: Japan, Korea, South

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India (n.), Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan
INDO-CHINA: Thailand, Vietnam
MALESIA: Indonesia [Jawa, Sulawesi]

Cultivated
Africa

SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa

Naturalized

REGION:

Northern America

EASTERN CANADA: Canada [New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia]
NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin]
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Colorado, Oregon]
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Texas]
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [California]

Reference(s)

Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980-. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon.
Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Govaerts, R. & D. G. Frodin. 2002. World checklist and bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae).
Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.
Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
Wyk, B.-E. van et al. 2009. Medicinal plants of South Africa Note: Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Environmental	ornamental		Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Environmental	ornamental		Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Materials	essential oils	used in perfumery & pharmacy	Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Materials	lipids	used in perfumery & pharmacy	Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Medicines	folklore		Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Medicines	folklore		Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	folklore		Kala, C. P. et al. 2004. Prioritization of medicinal plants on the basis of available knowledge, existing practices and use value status in Uttaranchal, India. Biodivers. & Conservation 13:459.
Medicines	folklore		McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Non-vertebrate poisons	house pest control	insecticide with di- & triterpenes	Mabberley, D. J. 1997. The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants, ed. 2 8-9.
Vertebrate poisons	mammals		BernhardSmith, A. 1923. Poisonous plants of all countries, 2nd ed. Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisons	mammals		Der Marderosian, A. & L. Liberti. 1988. Natural product medicine: a scientific guide to foods, drugs, cosmetics Note: poisonous

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=1358. Accessed 14 April 2026.