Sweet Flag.Acorus Calamus.
Found in swamps and on the borders of runlets, in flower in June.
The Sweet Flag has no common stalk; the leaves springing directly from the rootstock; long and narrow (from 3 to 4 feet long), sword-like in shape, thin and even on the edge, and rising to a sharply defined ridge on one side of the center; the surface is like silk, and the texture is firm and fine; of a beautiful grass-green color.
The minute greenish-yellow flowers are closely set in a long club-like spike, growing out abruptly from the middle of a leaf-like stalk.
The large root is sought and eaten for its pungent and aromatic flavor; the tender young flower-club also has the same qualities of flavor and is eaten by children, who in certain localities call it “the grater.”