There is some debate about whether Acorus calamus L., is the calamus mentioned in Exodus 30:23, Song of Solomon 4:14 and Ezekiel 27:19 because it is a New World species that would not have been known although there are claims that it was known and imported from the east. Other sweet plants that are mentioned included ginger grass, Andropogon aromaticusSieber ex Schult., especially if the former was unknown, and sugar cane, Saccharum officinarum L., called kanah in Hebrew.
Another species, Acorusamericanus (Raf.) Raf., known as sweetflag is found further north ranging across North America.
