Feather hidden by them, with one or two filoplumes attached and sprouting from near the same point of the skin as each contour feather, at least on a bird's head, neck and trunk. In some passerines, filoplumes arise exposed beyond the contour feathers on the neck. The remiges, or flight feathers of the wing, and rectrices, the flight feathers of the tail are the most important feathers for flight. A typical vaned feather features a main shaft, called the rachis. Fused to the rachis are a series of branches, or barbs; the barbs themselves are also branched and form the barbules.
Acorus calamus Acorus calamus Acorus calamus (also called sweet flag or calamus, among many common names) is a species of flowering plant, a tall wetland monocot of the family Acoraceae, in the genus "Acorus". Sweet flag is a herbaceous perennial, tall. In habit it resembles the iris, and has given its name to the flag iris, "I. pseudacorus". It consists of tufts of basal leaves that rise from a spreading rhizome. The leaves are erect yellowish-green, radical, with pink sheathing at their bases, sword-shaped, flat and narrow, tapering into a long, acute point, and have parallel veins. The leaves have smooth edges,