Sweet flag, Acorus calamus
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.
The dried and powdered rhizome has a spicy flavour and is used as a substitute for ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
A pinch of the powdered rhizome is used as a flavouring in tea.
The young and tender inflorescence is often eaten by children for its sweetness.
The young leaves are edible cooked. The leaves can be used to flavour custards in the same way as vanilla pods.
The inner portion of young stems is eaten raw. It makes a very palatable salad.
It is widely employed in modern herbal medicine as an aromatic stimulant and mild tonic.
In Ayurveda it is highly valued as a rejuvenator for the brain and nervous system and as a remedy for digestive disorders.
It is used internally in the treatment of digestive complaints, bronchitis, sinusitis etc. It is said to have wonderfully tonic powers of stimulating and normalizing the appetite.
Sweet flag is also used externally to treat skin eruptions, rheumatic pains and neuralgia.
An infusion of the root can bring about an abortion whilst chewing the root alleviates toothache. It is a folk remedy for arthritis, cancer, convulsions, diarrhoea, dyspepsia, epilepsy etc.
Chewing the root is said to kill the taste for tobacco.
Roots 2 - 3 years old are used since older roots tend to become tough and hollow. They are harvested in late autumn or early spring and are dried for later use. The dry root loses 70% of its weight, but has an improved smell and taste. It does, however, deteriorate if stored for too long.
Caution is advised on the use of this root, especially in the form of the distilled essential oil, since large doses can cause mild hallucinations.
The leaves are used in basket making or woven into mats. They have also been used as a thatch for roofs.
An essential oil from the rhizome is also used in perfumery and as an insect repellent and insecticide. It is effective against houseflies.
When added to rice being stored in granaries it has significantly reduced loss caused by insect damage because the oil in the root has sterilized the male rice weevils.
An essential oil obtained from the leaves is used in perfumery and for making aromatic vinegars.
The leaves and the root have a refreshing scent of cinnamon.
All parts of plant can be dried and used to repel insects or to scent linen cupboards. They can also be burnt as an incense.
The growing plant is said to repel mosquitoes.