Calamus
| Family Acoraceae | ||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Acorus calamus L |
Botany
Acorus calamus is categorized into 3 varieties based on number of its chromosomes: americanus (diploid chromosomes), vulgaris (triploid chromosomes) and angustatus (tetraploid chromosomes). Americanus is native to North America, Siberia and temperate Asia. Vulgaris is native to Europe, temperate India and the Himalayas. Angustatus is native to tropical Southeast Asia, Japan and Taiwan. Acorus from Europe, China and Japan have been planted in the United States.
Acorus gramineus is the only other member of the Acorus genus.
Calamus has been used as a "street drug alternative".
Walt Whitman added a section called The Calamus Poems, celebrating the love of men, to the third edition of Leaves of Grass, published in 1860, and in which the calamus is used as a symbol of love, lust, and affection. It has been suggested that the symbology derives from the visual resemblane of the reed to the erect human penis.
Chemistry
Both triploid and tetraploid calamus contain asarone, but diploid does not contain any.Regulations
Calamus and products derived from calamus (such as its oil) were banned in 1968 as food additives and medicines by the United States Food and Drug Administration.Usage
Calamus has been used medicinally for a variety of ailments.Cultural symbolism
The calamus has long been a symbol of male love. The name is taken from Greek myth: Kalamos, a son of the river-god Maeander, who loved Karpos, the son of Zephyus. When Karpus drowned, Kalamos was transformed into a reed, whose rustling in the wind was interpreted as a sigh of lamentation.External links