Sweet Flag - Calamus (Acorus calamus)

Family: Araceae | Edibility: Edible (3/5)

Bloom Color: Green. Main Bloom Time: Mid summer. Form: Spreading or horizontal, Upright or erect.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Leaves, Shoots, Roots/Tubers

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

sweetmeat. — The rhizome is candied and made into a sweetmeat.; It can be peeled and washed to remove the bitterness and then eaten raw like a fruit.; It makes a palatable vegetable when roasted and can also be used as a flavouring.; Rich in starch, the root contains about 1% of an essential oil that is used as a food flavouring.

Habitat & North American Range

Found in moist soils and shallow water in ditches, marshes, river edges and ponds. (Zone 4)