''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
The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...
, widespread in tropical and subtropical areas around the world, sometimes extending its range into temperate regions.[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
/ref>
Description
The rhizomatous
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
, perennial
In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
or annual grass-like sedge typically grows to a height of . It blooms between summer and winter and produces green-brown flowers.[ The stems are rigid with a thickness of . Stems are ]glabrous
Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...
with a triangular cross-section. The leaves are very narrow, around with a grass-like appearance and are often tufted at the base of the plant. The seed-head is an irregular cluster formation at the tip of the stem with brown spikes that have three to six green leafy bracts underneath.[
]
Distribution
It is common in the Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In biogeog ...
as a weed in grass lawns.
In Australia the species is widespread in warmer climates and found from sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
to an altitude of around . The species is found along rivers and creeks in a range of ecosystems from rainforest, melaleuca
''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles, bottlebrushes or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They ...
forest, vine thickets, eucalypt
Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia:
''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...
forest and swamps in a variety of woodland and grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
areas including in salty mud and marshes of the ocean shore.Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
in Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
[ and through the ]Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
, Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
and New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
.[
In the ]United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, it has been reported from a region stretching from Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
to Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
.[Flora of North America, Vol. 23 Page 160, ''Cyperus polystachyos'' Rottbøll, Descr. Pl. Rar. 21. 1772. ]
/ref>
See also
* List of ''Cyperus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1637688
polystachyos
Flora of Africa
Flora of Northern America
Flora of Southern America
Flora of Asia
Flora of Madagascar
Flora of Australia
Plants described in 1773
Taxa named by Christen Friis Rottbøll