| Cyperus Temporal range: | |
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| Dwarf umbrella-sedge, Cyperus albostriatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Cyperaceae |
| Genus: | Cyperus L. |
| Species | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
List
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Cyperus is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. [2] [3]
They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving water up to 0.5 metres (20 in) deep. The species vary greatly in size, with small species only 5 centimetres (2 in) tall, while others can reach 5 metres (16 ft) in height. Common names include papyrus sedges, flatsedges, nutsedges, umbrella-sedges and galingales. The stems are circular in cross-section in some, triangular in others, usually leafless for most of their length, with the slender grass-like leaves at the base of the plant, and in a whorl at the apex of the flowering stems. The flowers are greenish and wind-pollinated; they are produced in clusters among the apical leaves. The seed is a small nutlet. [4] [5] [6]
Cyperus species are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Chedra microstigma . They also provide an alternative food source for Bicyclus anynana larvae. [7] The seeds and tubers are an important food for many small birds and mammals.
Cyperus microcristatus (from Cameroon) and C. multifolius (native to Panama and Ecuador) are possibly extinct; the former was only found once, in 1995, and the latter has not been seen in the last 200 years. The "true" papyrus sedge of Ancient Egypt, C. papyrus subsp. hadidii, is also very rare today due to draining of its wetland habitat; feared extinct in the mid-20th century, it is still found at a few sites in the Wadi El Natrun region and northern Sudan.
Some tuber-bearing species on the other hand, most significantly the purple nutsedge, C. rotundus , are considered invasive weeds in much of the world.
Around 700 species are currently recognised in the genus Cyperus. [8]
Many fossil fruits of a Cyperus species have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark. [9] Several fossil fruits of †Cyperus distachyoformis have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland. [10]
Papyrus sedge ( C. papyrus ) of Africa was of major historical importance in providing papyrus. C. giganteus , locally known as cañita, is used by the Yokot'an Maya of Tabasco, Mexico, for weaving petates (sleeping mats) and sombreros. C. textilis and C. pangorei are traditionally used to produce the typical mats of Palakkad in India, and the makaloa mats of Niihau were made from C. laevigatus .
The chufa flatsedge (C. esculentus) has edible tubers and is grown commercially for these; they are eaten as vegetables, made into sweets, or used to produce the horchata in the Valencia region. Several other species – e.g. Australian bush onion (C. bulbosus) – are eaten to a smaller extent. For some Northern Paiutes, Cyperus tubers were a mainstay food, to the extent that they were known as tövusi-dökadö ("nutsedge tuber eaters") [11]
Priprioca ( C. articulatus ) is one of the traditional spices of the Amazon region and its reddish essential oil is used commercially both by the cosmetic industry, and increasingly as a flavoring for food. [12] [13] Interest is increasing in the larger, fast-growing species as crops for paper and biofuel production.
Some species are grown as ornamental or pot plants, notably:
Some Cyperus species are used in folk medicine. Roots of Near East species were a component of kyphi , a medical incense of Ancient Egypt. Tubers of C. rotundus (purple nut-sedge) tubers are used in kampō .
An unspecified Cyperus is mentioned as an abortifacient in the 11th-century poem De viribus herbarum . [17]
Cyperus papyrus, better known by the common names papyrus, papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant, or Nile grass, is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a tender herbaceous perennial, native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water.
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large; botanists have described some 5,500 known species in about 90 genera – the largest being the "true sedges", with over 2,000 species.
Cyperus esculentus is a species of plant in the sedge family widespread across much of the world. It is found in most of the Eastern Hemisphere, including Southern Europe, Africa and Madagascar, as well as the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. C. esculentus is cultivated for its edible tubers, called earth almonds or tiger nuts, as a snack food and for the preparation of horchata de chufa, a sweet, milk-like beverage.
Carex is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology.
Cyperus rotundus is a species of sedge (Cyperaceae) native to Africa, southern and central Europe, and southern Asia. The word cyperus derives from the Greek κύπερος, kyperos, and rotundus is from Latin, meaning "round". The earliest attested form of the word cyperus is the Mycenaean Greek 𐀓𐀞𐀫, ku-pa-ro, written in Linear B syllabic script.
Cyperus haspan is a dwarf papyrus sedge in the Cyperaceae. It is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions in Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia, New Guinea, Australia, South America, West Indies, Central America, southern Mexico and the southeastern United States.
Cyperus polystachyos, also known as Pycreus polystachyos, and also called manyspike flatsedge in the US, or bunchy sedge, coast flatsedge, many-spiked sedge or Texas sedge in Australia, is a herbaceous species in the family Cyperaceae, widespread in tropical and subtropical areas around the world, sometimes extending its range into temperate regions.
Cyperus eragrostis is a species of sedge known by several common names, including tall flatsedge, nutgrass, tall nutgrass, umbrella sedge, chufa, Earth almond, zula nuts, edible galingale and pale galingale.
Cyperus acuminatus is a common species of sedge known by several common names, including tapertip flatsedge and pale umbrella-sedge. This plant is native to North America, where it is widespread across the Great Plains and the western United States, with scattered populations in the eastern US as well as in Saskatchewan, Tamaulipas and Coahuila.
Cyperus difformis is a species of sedge known by several common names, including variable flatsedge, smallflower umbrella-sedge and rice sedge. This plant is native to southern Europe, most of Africa and Asia, and Australia, and it is naturalized in other areas of the world, including large parts of the Americas.
Cyperus erythrorhizos is a species of sedge known by the common names red-rooted flatsedge or redroot flatsedge. It is found across much of North America from Maine, Ontario and British Columbia south to Tabasco in southern Mexico.
Cyperus fuscus is a species of sedge known by the common name brown galingale, or brown flatsedge. This plant is native to much of Europe, Asia, and North Africa from England, Portugal and Morocco then towards east to China and Thailand. It is an introduced species in North America, where it is naturalized in widely scattered locations in the United States and Canada.
Cyperus odoratus is a species of sedge known by the common names fragrant flatsedge and rusty flatsedge. This species is quite variable and may in fact be more than one species included under one name.
Cyperus squarrosus is a species of sedge known by several common names, including bearded flatsedge and awned flatsedge. It is found in wet environments in North and South America, Africa, Australia, southern Asia and Italy.
Cyperus laevigatus is a species of sedge known by the common name smooth flatsedge.
Carex hirta, the hairy sedge or hammer sedge, is a species of sedge native across Europe. It has characteristic hairy leaves and inflorescences, and is the type species of the genus Carex.
Cyperus articulatus is an aromatic species of sedge known by the common names jointed flatsedge and priprioca. It has also been known as Guinea rush or adrue. It grows as a perennial herb. It grows in water or near it in rivers, streams, lakes, and swamps with a hyperhydrate or possibly tenagophyte growth pattern. It is widespread across tropical and subtropical regions in Africa, southern Asia, northern Australia, the southeastern United States, the West Indies, and Latin America. While it is closely related to highly invasive sedges such as purple nut sedge, priprioca is less prolific and competitive than its relative.
Cyperus elegans, the royal flatsedge, is a sedge species in the genus Cyperus from Central and South America.
Cyperus surinamensis, also known as the tropical flatsedge, is a sedge of the family Cyperaceae that is native to the Americas.
Cyperus tenellus is a sedge of the family Cyperaceae commonly known as the tiny flatsedge.
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Media related to Cyperus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Cyperus at Wikispecies| Authority control databases: National |
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