Sweet flag

Southern blue flag Iris virginica) Sweet flag Acorus calamus)... 

Calamus oil (sweet flag oil) is obtained by steam distillation of fresh or unpeeled, dried roots of Acorus calamus L. (Araceae). It is a yellow to medium brown, moderately viscous liquid with a pleasant, spicy, aromatic odor. 

Acorns calamus L. var. angustatus Besser A. gramineus Ait. A. tatarinowii L. Chang Pu (Sweet flag) (leaf, root) Acoric acid, beta-asarone, yellow bitter aromatic volatile oil, alpha-pinene, d-camphene, calamene, calamenol, calamenone.50,357-450 Anticonvulsant, analgesic, aphrodisiac, carminative, contraceptive, dessicant, diaphoretic. 

Calamus, or Sweet Flag—is the root-stem of the acorue calamus, and comes iu long, slender pieces, with a yellowish-brown and wrinkled exterior. It is white in the interior, and gives off an aromatic odor, which may be obtained in the form of volatile oil. 

Calamus, sweet flag Acorns calamus Root... 

Material A chemical related to mescaline and the amphetamines found in the roots of sweet flag ( Acorus calamus ) and Asarum spp. It is chemically the precusor of TMA-2 (2,4,5-trimethoxy-a-methyl-4,5-methylenedioxyphenylethylamine), a hallucinogen with 18 times the gram potency of mescaline. Asarone is converted to TMA-2 in the body by aminization which takes place shortly after ingestion. 

CALAMUS -- Sweet flag, rat root ( Acorus calamus ). Family Araceae (Arum family). 

History, 281-292 Introduction to the MDA "Cluster, 281 Nutmeg and Mace, 283 Calamus, or "Sweet Flag, 286 Alles Discovers... 

C. A mixture of oil of sweet flag in glycerine (1 2), made according to one of the traditional trappers recipes, kindly provided by Prof. M.M. Alexander, Syracuse, N.Y. (sample 13 in Figure 3). 

These preliminary results seem to confirm that extracts of muskrat preputial glands and possibly also of sweet flag can indeed enhance the catches of muskrats, especially in scented funnel traps in artificial pipes at river banks, where migrating muskrats pass. The animals caught are then mainly males which preferentially enter artificial pipes scented with extracts of musk glands which - it should be remarked here - are produced by other males. 

Figure 4. Results of the screening experiment at the Hegebeek on the German border. Key A, ( ), Dutch muskrat musk 26 and 29 B, (- - ), American muskrat musk 28 blank 1, (----) C, ( ), sweet flag 13 and blank 2, (-).

Within the framework of this paper it is not possible to discuss all the screening results. For those who are interested, a detailed report (21) (in Dutch ) is available. It may suffice here to relate that the home made gland extract A (batch 29, which also performed best in the field tests of Figures 4 and 5) was the best attractant, followed by a mixture of the oils of sweet flag and catnip (recipe obtained through the courtesy of Prof. Alexander) and the American muskrat musk, which was also used in the field tests. As an example, the results of one of these tests is shown in Figure 6. 

A continuing investigation of sweet flag oil [Acorns calamus) has resulted in the isolation and identification of calamusenone (573) and its isomer (574) together with the unusual trisnor-sesquiterpenoid (575). Two other simple guaiane sesquiterpenoids are (576) and (577), isolated from Athanasia dregeana (DC.). ... 

SYNS CALAMUS oil KALMUS OEL (GERMAN) OIL OF SWEET FLAG... 

Acorus calamus (calamus root, sweet flag, rat root, sweet sedge, flag root, sweet calomel, sweet myrtle, sweet cane, sweet rush, beewort, muskrat root, pine root) contains several active constituents called asar-ones. The basic structure is 2,4,5-trimethoxy-l-propenyl-benzene, which is related to the hallucinogen 3,4-methylenedioxyphenylisopropylamine (MDA). The amounts of the asarones in calamus rhizomes vary considerably with the botanical variety. For example, there are high concentrations in triploid calamus from Eastern Europe but none detectable in the diploid North American variety. 

The taller seed-like plants of the marsh-land, such as seed-grass Phragmites), the bur-reed (Sparganium), the cat-tails Typha), the blue flags Iris), the sweet flag Acorus calamus) and the papyrus Papyrus) form associations known as fresh-water marshes, reed-marshes or fens. The channels or pools of water in amongst these amphibious plants are filled with true aquatic plants. 

Derivation By steam distillation of calamus, the stem or root of the sweet flag. Chief known constituents are asarone (see 2,4,5-trimethoxy-1-propenyl-benzene) and eugenol. 

Calamus. Sweet flag root. Acorus calamus. W. II. 199, Bn. II. 63. Radix. The root. ... 

Sweet Flag root contains asarone, a precursor of TMA-2, a phenethylamine which is reputedly 18 times more potent than mescaline. This fact is undoubtedly the source of its rather uncertain reputation as a drug - no one seems certain whether it is a stimulant, a sedative, a hallucinogen or even all three at once. (I ve never encountered anyone who actually ate any.) There is evidence that the North American subspecies may be deficient in asarone certainly, the DEA isn t losing any sleep over trying to control Calamus ingestion. 

A paragraph is given to herbal medicine as practiced in Tibet, with the comment that many of their substances have bad side effects, the same as for conventional chemotherapy. Some of these substances are aconite (Aconitum ferrox), which is very poisonous, sweet flag or calamus (Acorns calamus), bitumen, and arsenic, all of which require close monitoring. 

Sweet flag The aromatic root of the Acorus calamus, used as a carminative and tonic In dyspepsia and colic. 

Calamus, Sweet flag calm us sweet cane sweet grass. Dried rhizome of Acorus calamus L., Araceae. Habit. Europa, North America, Western Asia cultivated in Burma and Ceylon. Canstit. Acorin, a coretin (choline), 1.5% volatile oil, 2.5% resins, 1.5% tannins also reducing sugars and sterol bodies. Ref Bose et of., J. Am. Pharm. Assoc. 49 32 0960). 

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