European Sweetflag
Acorus calamus
Found in marshes, wet meadows, other wet areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 2–2.5 feet
- Spread
- 1.5–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- Summer
Recorded in 8 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Who uses this plant?
—CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Acorus
- Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Acoraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–10b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Green or inconspicuous
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Spreads by rhizomes
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Summer
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green or inconspicuous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Spreads by rhizomes” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “2–2.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Frequent standing water; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “1.5–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Calamus; European Sweet Flag
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4? |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications