Calamus has a wide distribution in the world, so it also has historical
significant in many different cultures. In India, for instance, incense
made from calamus root is used to calm the cobra, who is considered to
be the keeper of kundalini energy.
While the lemony-scented leaves of the plant were used as a strewing
herb to mask unpleasant odors by the early North American colonists,
they smoked or snuffed the powdered root as an alternative to tobacco.
Sweet flag gets its botanical name from the Greek word acoron, and
adaption from an earlier word that meant “pupil” and is a reference to
the fact that the herb was originally used to counter inflammation of
the eye.
Today, the use of calamus root in the United States is limited to
topical and aromatic applications. In fact, although the herb has a
previous history of use as a flavoring agent, its use in the food
industry is now banned.
