Family | Acoraceae |
Scientific name | Acorus calamus L. |
Synonyms | Acorus americanus auct., non (Rafinesque) Rafinesque; Acorus asiaticus Nakai ex Kitagawa; Acorus belangeri Schott; Acorus calamus L. var. americanus auct., non (Rafinesque) H. Wulff; Acorus calamus L. var. angustatus Besser; Acorus casia Bertoloni; Acorus cochinchinense (Loureiro) Schott; Acorus commersonii Schott; Acorus commutatus Schott; Acorus elatus Salisbury; Acorus europaeus Dumortier; Acorus griffithii Schott; Acorus nilaghirensis Schott; Acorus odoratus Lamarck; Acorus spurius Schott; Acorus tatarinowii Schott; Acorus undulatus Stokes; Acorus vulgaris Simonkai; Calamus aromaticus Güldenstaedt; Orontium cochinchinense Loureiro |
Common name | (Japanese common name) shobu (ショウブ, 菖蒲 [shobu = Japanese pronunciation of a traditional Chinese medicine]) |
(English common name) sweetflag | |
Distribution | (Japan) Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu |
(Other nations) Russia, Korea, China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Caucasus, Iran, Turkey (naturalized in Europe and North America) | |
Habit | Pond, swamp, riverside |
Chromosomal number | 2n=18, 24, 36, 44, 48 [Acorus calamus var. angustatus in Japan: 2n=44] |
Description | Aerial stems ca. 2cm wide. Leaves tufted, 20-50cm long, 5-11mm wide. Scapes 25-40cm tall, bract leaves 30-40cm long. Flowers inflorescences 5.5-10cm long, 1cm wide, 6 perianths each 2mm long, 6 stamens, filaments 2mm long, flowering in April to May. Perennial plants. |
Reference | Acorus calamus L. |
Acorus calamus Linnaeus | |
Bath preparations and method for producing the same (US Patent 4728510/1988) | |
Process for preparing a partial extract containing the volatile in steam components and further lipophilic components of medical plants and/or spice plants (US Patent 5176913/1993) | |
Herbal compositions (US Patent 5693327/1997) | |
Water purificant (US Patent 6254800/2001) | |
Cosmetic formulations for the prevention and therapy of hair loss (US Patent 6270752/2001) | |
Fabric protectant against pests (US Patent 6436150/2002) | |
Microwave assisted rapid and economical process for the preparation of substituted phenylaldehydes from trans and cis-phenylpropenes: a commercial utilisation of toxic cis-isomer (US Patent 6544390/2003) | |
Use of drosophila melanogaster as a model for screening psychostimulant plant materials (US Patent 6617491/2003) | |
Process for the preparation of 1-Propyl-2, 4, 5-trimethoxybenzene from toxic .beta.-asarone of acorus calamus or from crude calamus oil containing .beta.-asarone (US Patent 6528041/2003) | |
Process for the preparation of pharmacologically active .alpha.-asarone from toxic .beta.-asarone rich acorus calamus oil (US Patent 6590127/2003) | |
DDQ mediated one step dimerization of β-asarone or β-asarone rich Acorus calamus oil in the formation of novel neolignan (US Patent 6969778/2005) | |
Note | Some authors may argue that Acorus americanus (Rafinesque) Rafinesque (syn. Acorus calamus L. var. americanus (Rafinesque) H. Wulff, Acorus calamus auct., non L.) is a synonym of Acorus calamus L. |
April 2008 at Ushiku Iris Garden |
April 2008 at Ushiku Iris Garden |
April 2008 at Ushiku Iris Garden |
June 2007 at lowland marsh |