Sweet Grass, aks Sweet Flag, Calamus, Flagroot, etc.

[Guest guest]

Hi all;

Promised this info to one of the members the other night on chat.

Think she was looking for the oil. That would be Calamus Oil.

Sometimes it can be found in a hydrosol. Right now, there is some

for sale on ebay. One seller has it as under a different proper name

tho. It is listed as 'Hierochloe ordorata'. Item number# 2396094456

seller name: vailvillager. They did mention that there were others

selling it on ebay. Perhaps with the different proper name. When not

in bloom, the plant can have a spike very similar to Horsetail?

Suzanne Catty's company may have it in an oil and hydrosol as the new

crops come in.

 

The 'hierochloe' has a Vanilla Fragrance, grows well in wet land.

The other seems to have a lemon sent. Can be mistaken for Blue Flag

when not in bloom. The Flag rhizomes were once eaten like candy.

Folks smoked or chewed the powdered rhizome to destroy the taste of

tobacco. Supposed to create vivid dreams, used as smudging, Indians

had many uses for it. Everything from a toothache to fever.

 

The Asian Varieties caused cancerous tumors in rats in a study done

in 1968 by the US FDA. Native to North America and Asia. Found from

Nova Scotia, South to FL and TX, West to Oregon. Considered rare or

threatened in some states.

 

Hope this helps a bit. My sources were ebay, 'Hydrosols, The Next

Aromatherapy' by Suzanne Catty, and 'Magic and Medicine of Plants' by

Reader's Digest, a wonderful book that is a constant standby in a

fairly large library.

 

My best to you in your quest,

deb @ Swans' Nest