This herb is BULK DISCOUNTED in our 10 lb & 25 lb bulk packs. To find the bulk packs, just copy and paste the herb name into our Search, or refer to our Bulk By The Kilo & Ton category.

We use only 100% Gluten-free, Vegetable Cellulose "00" capsules for all of our encapsulated products. We offer both bulk powder and capsules. Obviously our bulk bottles are bulk powder, not capsules, but the capsule weight is included to give you a way of judging the recommended dosage.

Calamus Root - Botanical Powder -- Approximately 600 mg. each capsule. 1/2 teaspoon of powder is about equal to one capsule. Powder can be consumed by sprinkling it over your food or mixing it with a syrup such as maple or chocolate. You could also mix it with orange juice. The citric acid in the orange juice will help to mask any unpleasant powder tastes.

Other common names: Sweet Sedge, Sweet Grass, Sweet Root, Sweet Rush, Sweet Calomel, Sweet Flag, Sweet Cane, Sweet Myrtle, Myrtle Grass, Myrtle Sedge, Cinnamon Sedge, Muskrat Root, Rat Root, Pine Root, Gladdon, Flagroot, Beewort

American Calamus* has been used mainly to ease digestive disorders, especially relieving flatulence and stomach cramps. It is also thought to be an effective expectorant that clears nasal and respiratory passages, and some herbal practitioners claim it even clears the mind.

*Note: The B-asarone content in the essential oil of an Asian variety of the species is thought to be carginogenic and excluded from the American species, but because the USFDA labeled all varieties of Acorus calamus (sometimes also called Sweet Flag and Rat Root) as unsafe in 1968, further research has been discouraged with regard to the herb's many historic applications. Thus, it is always recommended that any use of Calamus be conducted only under the care of a qualified health care provider.

History:
Calamus is a vigorous, reed-like, aquatic plant with somewhat vague origins. Some say that it is a native of Europe; others claim Asia, and it is distributed widely in the temperate regions of the United States, Europe, Eurasia, northern Asia Minor and throughout the Far East (including India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka). This perennial plant bears sword-shaped leaves with small yellow and green flowers on a fleshy, cane-like stalk and thrives in rich, wet soil (or shallow water) in a sunny position, reaching a height of five feet. Although the iris-like plant resembles "yellow flag" (a member of the lily family and the reason Calamus is sometimes called Sweet Flag), it is actually a member of the palm family and flourishes in ditches, lakesides and marshy places.

The derivation of Calamus's botanical name, Acorus, is also vague: Some say it is derived from the Greek word, coreon, meaning "pupil of the eye," referring to the plant's use to cure eye diseases; others say it is derived from an old Latin word meaning "aromatic plant," referring to the pleasant fragrance emitted from the reeds. The herb's English name and botanical specific, calamus, is a translation of the Greek word meaning "reed," and its use in herbal medicine may be traced back to the ancients. Dioscorides prescribed it for eye problems, and in ancient India, practitioners employed it as a candied chewing medicine for coughs and bronchitis.

In Europe and England, Calamus was utilized as a popular "strewing herb" to ward off disease and to add a pleasant fragrance to churches; and the esteemed seventeenth-century English herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper, recommended Calamus as a "strengthener of the stomach and head." Native Americans had so many medicinal uses for Calamus that it was actually considered a commodity and medium of exchange. Plains Indians chewed it for toothache, and the Meskwakis applied the boiled root to treat burns.

Some of the Native Americans utilized the herb to increase strength and endurance, while other, more northerly tribes used it to help improve digestion and mental sharpness (echoing Culpeper's earlier recommendations), and the herb was included in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 through 1916 and the National Formulary from 1936 through 1950.

The sweet scented roots and leaves are used in perfumes, and its pungent, cinnamon-spicy qualities add flavor to candies, medicines, beers and gins, while the same aromatic, bitter roots and leaves are used in herbal medicines. Some of the constituents included in Calamus are essential oil, choline, soft resin, gum, starch and the bitter glucoside, acorin. The oil from North American Calamus is beta-asarone-free.

Beneficial Uses:
Calamus Root is an aromatic stimulant that has been used for centuries in many cultures mainly for digestive complaints. It is considered a "stomachic," or substance that stimulates and strengthens stomach function, and is said to benefit digestion, increase the appetite and ease dyspepsia and stomach cramps. The herb is thought to relieve the discomfort of flatulence, as well as check the growth of the bacteria which gives rise to it.

As an expectorant, Calamus has been used to loosen and expel phlegm from the respiratory tract and is said to be useful in cases of bronchitis and sinusitis. The powdered root was included in snuff to relieve nasal congestion and shock, and in European countries the root was included in lozenges to clear the voice and ease coughs.

Calamus is considered a parasiticide that has been used to destroy and expel parasites from the intestines (an insecticide is also produced from the essential oil).

As an emmenagogue, Calamus has been used to stimulate and regulate menstrual flow.

The powdered root of Calamus was once smoked or chewed, because it was thought to destroy the taste for tobacco and thus discourage and break the smoking habit.

Calamus has been used to calm the nerves and act as a mild tonic that restores and nourishes the entire body by exerting a gentle strengthening effect. It was a very important herb in Ayurvedic medicine and was used as a restorative for the brain and nervous system, especially after a stroke.

Used externally, Calamus has been used to relieve burns, skin problems, eruptions, rheumatic pains and neuralgia.