HERB : Sweet Flag BOTANICAL NAME : Acorus Calamus SYNONYMS : Calamus, sweet sedge, rat root, sweet myrtle, beewort, bachh (Hindu), Racha (Vedic), Shihch'ang pu (chinese) LOCALES FOUND : Europe, Asia, China, North America from Nova Scotia to minnesota; southward to Florida & Texas. The effects of Calamus, produced from the root, are as a stimulent when a dried root of about 2 inches length and the thickness of a pencil; a Hallucinogen when 10+ inches of selfsame root are eaten. It is legal in the US and can be bought in dried form in many parts of the country for under $3 an ounce. It has an additional medicinal value, according to the Cree Indians, to relieve constipation, in the smaller doseage. The root can be chewed and eaten raw, and has a taste of a bitter ginger root. Eaten this way it numbs the tongue for 4-10 minutes. Although possible this takes developing a taste for it. A tonic or tea can also be made, far more useful if all you can find is the ground root, 1 ounce per 1 pint of the boiling water, preferably mixed with a few pleasant tasting herbs like spearmint or peppermint and served with honey (NO MILK PRODUCT - IT WILL CAUSE IRRITATION, POSSIBLE VOMITTING IF SUCH IS DONE). Preferably take it on an empty stomache. In this form it does not act as a Hallucinogen but does have its other effects. Calamus can also be added to a meade recipe, but will give it a slightly bitter aftertaste no matter what other herbs you add to the brew.