A fine-bladed rush-like grass with green and white striped, 1/4" wide leaves - evergreen in southern zones. Non-invasive rhizome grass. Numerous sedge-like spikes of tiny, densely-packed, yellow flowers appear in late spring to early summer. Flowers give way to tiny reddish fleshy berries. Requires moist soil; good bog plant.

Striking foliage provides wonderful color and texture for gardens. An excellent ground cover for open woods, at water’s edge, and in ponds or water gardens in up to 4 inches (10 cm) of water. Excellent for erosion control along the banks of streams and ponds. Slow to moderate growth rate. Occasional foot traffic is tolerated. Mature height 6-12 inches, spacing 8-12 inches.

Acorus is a genus of monocot flowering plants. This genus was once placed within the family Araceae (aroids), but more recent phylogenies place it in its own family Acoraceae and order Acorales, of which it is the sole genus of the oldest surviving line of monocots. The exact relationship of Acorus to other monocots, however, is still debated by scientitst. Some studies indicate that it is placed in a lineage (the order Alismatales), that also includes aroids (Araceae), Tofieldiaceae, and several families of aquatic monocots (e.g., Alismataceae, Posidoniaceae). Common names include Calamus and Sweet Flag.

The name ’acorus’ is derived from the Greek word ’acoron’, a name used by Dioscorides, which in turn was derived from ’coreon’, meaning ’pupil’, because it was used in herbal medicine as a treatment for inflammation of the eye.

The genus is native to North America and northern and eastern Asia, and naturalised in southern Asia and Europe from ancient cultivation. The known wild populations are diploid except for some tetraploids in eastern Asia, while the cultivated plants are sterile triploids, probably of hybrid origin between the diploid and tetraploid forms.

These grasslike evergreen plants are hemicryptophytes, (i.e. perennial plants of which the overwintering buds are at the soil surface) or geophytes (i.e. the overwintering buds are found underground, usually attached to a bulb, corm, tuber, etc.). Their natural habitat is at the waterside or close to marshes, often found with reedbeds.

The inconspicuous flowers are arranged on a lateral spadix (a thickened, fleshy axis). Unlike aroids, there is no spathe (large bract, enclosing the spadix). The spadix is 4-10 cm long and is enclosed by the foliage. The bract can be ten times longer than the spadix. The leaves are linear with entire margin.