What surprises were found in sweet flag's DNA?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
May 16, 2002
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When settlers from Europe came to America, they brought plants from their homeland. Among these was sweet flag (Acorus calamus Linnaeus). Remarkably, the native peoples already knew this plant and had been using it medicinally and ceremonially for centuries.
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) was the first to notice the difference between the European sweet flag and the American.
He classified the American species as Acorus calamus variety americanus. The plants are almost identical except the European never sets seed, the American does.
To make matters confusing, American natives planted their sweet flag wherever they traveled, and European settlers planted their sweet flag likewise. Things became more confusing when people from China and Japan settled in the west and brought the Oriental sweet flag (Acorus gramineus Aiton).
Botanists basically gave up on the plants and lumped them under 2 species of Acorus in the Araceae, the arum or philodendron family—Acorus calamus, tall and aromatic; Acorus gramineus, short and not aromatic. That classification stood for well over a hundred years.
DNA studies of Acorus showed a few surprises. The European species (actually Asian introduced to Europe by Clusius) Acorus calamus is triploid (3 sets of chromosomes) and hence cannot produce seed. The American species, now named Acorus americanus is diploid (2 sets of chromosomes). Further investigations into Acorus calamus in Asia show the plant has diploid, triploid, and tetraploid (4 sets of chromosomes) forms. A species found in Siberia appears identical to the American.
The plants do not belong with the arums. Sweet flags are in their own family, Acoraceae [a co race' ee ee]. The plants are much older than anyone suspected; fossilized spadices (flowering spikes) found in Tennessee date to the Eocene, 54 to 38 million years ago.
Den Virtuella Floran has several photographs of European sweet flag taken by Anna-Lena and Arne Anderberg. To view the photographs, click on the link:
http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/ara/acoru/acorcal.html
The Wisconsin State Herbarium has a good close-up of Acorus americanus. To view the photograph, click on the link:
http://www.botany.wisc.edu/wisflora/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=ACOAME
North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service has a photograph of Acorus gramineus.
Click here to view the photograph
Series: | 1 | | 2 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What plant abandons the soil to live in the canopy? Weird Plants - January 24, 2002
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Split-leaf (Monstera deliciosa Liebmann) Plant of the Week - December 27, 2004
What houseplant was used in voodoo? Herbal Folklore - March 25, 2002
What surprises were found in sweet flag's DNA? Weird Plants - May 16, 2002
Golden Club (Orontium aquaticum Linnaeus) Plant of the Week - February 24, 2003
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