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Photographer: Dennis W. Woodland
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Family Acoraceae
Acorus americanus (Raf.) Raf.
sweet-flag
Acorus: the Latin akoron was the Greek name of an iris
americanus: for America
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect, perennial, emergent semi-aquatic, up to 6' tall; sweet spicy smell when crushed; very long, aromatic, reddish rhizomes |
| Flower: | yellow to brown, tiny, 6-parted; inflorescence a 2"-4" dense, thick, cylindrical spadix protruding from the side of the leaf-like spathe; blooms June-July |
| Fruit: | brown, hard, and dry with 2-3 seeds |
| Leaf: | sweetly aromatic, crowded at the base, long, narrow, sword-like, midvein and 1-5 additional veins mostly equally-raised |
| Habitat: | shallows, ponds, marshes, in water less than 20" deep; in wet, silty soil |
| (Glossary) |
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