SCIENCE REPORTER, April 2010 53

BioProfile

NEHA MITTAL & H.S. GINWAL

THE word Acorus is derived from the Greek word‘acoron’, which in turn is derived from ‘coreon’meaning pupil and refers to the alleged ophthalmicvirtues of the plant. Calamus originated from a

Greek word ‘kalamos’, meaning ‘reed’. In Sanskrit it iscommonly called kalama, meaning ‘reed’ and ‘pen’ as wellas a sort of rice. It is a small genus of herbs, comprising twospecies viz. Acorus calamus and Acorus gramineus, found inthe North temperate regions and South-East Asia.

The calamus has long been a symbol of male love. Thename is associated with a Greek myth: Kalamos, a son ofthe river-god Maeander, who loved Karpos, the son ofZephyrus and Chloris. When Karpos drowned, Kalamoswas transformed into a reed, whose rustling in the windwas interpreted as a sign of lamentation. It is commonlyknown as Sweet Flag (English) and Bach (Hindi). The nameSweet Flag refers to its sweet scent (it has been used as astrewing herb) and the wavy edges of the leaves which aresupposed to resemble a fluttering flag.

Sweet flag earlier belonged to the family Araceae butlater shifted to Acoraceae. It is an attractive, perennial,herbaceous, semi-aquatic and marshy plant species. It mainlyinhabits wet areas like the edges of streams and aroundponds and lakes, and ditches. It is found growing wild inManipur, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and HimachalPradesh. Now its cultivation practices are very common indifferent parts of India.

The leaves of A. calamus look grass-like or sword shaped.They are simple, narrow, thick, glossy, bright green incolour. The rhizome is the main part of the plant, horizontal,jointed, vertically compressed, spongy, 1.25-2.5 cm inthickness. It is pale to dark brown, occasionally orangebrown in color. It rarely sets flowers and seeds. Flowers aresmall white or yellow green in colour, fragrant and arrangedin an elongate spadix.

Therapeutic UsesIn Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia the dried rhizome of the plantis used in weakness of memory, epilepsy, constipation,cough and asthma. It is commonly prescribed for improvingvoice and intellectual capacity. In Sushruta Samhita the juice

Natural vegetation of Acorus calamus near a lake

Acorus calamus with its spadix inflorescence

SCIENCE REPORTER, April 201054