This is a perennial cabbage-like herb, with a strongly developed and branched rhizome, overgrown with numerous vein-like roots on the bottom, and with straight, green, sword-like leaves long up to one meter long at the top. The cut rhizome is whitish and grain-like, and becomes spongy in water. At a cross-section, small cavities are visible under magnifier. It has specific aromatic smell and bitter aromatic and slightly spicy taste.
The drug contains essential oil, resins, tannins, bitter substance – acorene, little organic bases, a lot of starch, mucilage, etc.
Use
The sweet flag is a medicinal and important aromatic herb, which, after long everyday use, does not develop addiction. It is one of the best stomach-intestinal and aromatic spicy herbs.
The ethereal oil and acorene provoke appetite and improve digestion.
The tea made of sweet flag mitigates stomach-intestinal spasm and diarrhea, and reduces acidity in the stomach, eliminates gasses, and facilitates coughing out slime from the lungs.