Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Acorales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Acorus calamus
FAMILY
Acoraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Learn more about European Sweetflag from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Acorus calamus
FAMILY
Acoraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Acorus calamus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Acorus calamus
INCLUDED WITHIN Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge (Wofford, 1989)
Acorus americanus
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 032-01-001:
Acorus calamus FAMILY Araceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Acorus calamus
COMMON NAME:
European Sweetflag, European Calamus
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969 mpa_page_033
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_acca4_001_lvd
)
Bruce A. Sorrie bas_acorus_calamus1b
April Dare County NC
Inflorescence a cylindric tapering spadix; leaf-like spathe continues up, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Bruce A. Sorrie bas_acorus_calamus2
April Dare County NC
Inflorescence at plant base, a thick, dense spike of florets, pale straw-color and blunt-tipped, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm240412_8452
April Greenville County SC
Leaves are 2-4' tall and closely resemble those of Iris, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm240412_8453
April Greenville County SC
A single prominent vein & off-center ridge/indentation. Lf base or margins sometimes slightly red, per www.illinoiswildflowers.info.
)
JK Marlow jkm240412_8455
April Greenville County SC
Sword-like leaves are stiff and narrow, very similar to Cattail leaves, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm240703_0160
July Greenville County SC
Spreads vegetatively by shallow, branching, stout, knobby rhizomes w brown exterior/white interior, per www.illinoiswildflowers.info.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Acorus calamus
FAMILY
Acoraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Acorus calamus
FAMILY
Acoraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Acorus calamus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Acorus calamus
INCLUDED WITHIN
Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge (Wofford, 1989)
Acorus americanus
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 032-01-001:
Acorus calamus
FAMILY
Araceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Acorus calamus
23
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: marshes, wet meadows, other wet areas, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Eurasia
Uncommon in NC & in GA Mountains (rare elsewhere in GA & SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Rhizomatous
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish, greenish-brown
Radially symmetrical
Bisexual
Inflorescence a spadix
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p398
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p313
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p337
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p389
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".