''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 Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

belonging to the sedge 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 ...

. It is a tender herbaceous

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 ...

, forming tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water. In nature, it grows in full sun, in flooded swamps, and on lake margins throughout Africa (where it is native),

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and the Mediterranean region. It has been introduced to tropical regions worldwide, such as the Indian subcontinent, South America, and the Caribbean. Along with its close relatives, papyrus sedge has a very long history of use by humans, notably by the

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ians (as it is the source of

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

paper, one of the first types of paper ever made). Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. It is now often cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

Description

This tall, robust

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

can grow high, but on the margins of high altitude lakes such as

Lake Naivasha Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ''ɛnaɨpɔ́sha '', meaning ...

in Kenya and

Lake Tana Lake Tana (; previously transcribed Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and a source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and ...

in Ethiopia, at altitudes around the papyrus culms can measure up to in length, with an additional for the inflorescence (a spicate

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

; i.e. each of the up to one thousand rays of the umbel terminates in a spike of small flowers) for a total height of . Each culm is a single the longest known of any plant. At Lake Naivasha, the culms, triangular in cross-section, were as much as on a side in width. It forms a grass-like clump of triangular green stems that rise up from thick, woody

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s. Each stem is topped by a dense cluster of thin, bright green, thread-like rays around in length, resembling a feather duster when the plant is young. Greenish-brown

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

clusters eventually appear at the ends of the rays, giving way to brown, nut-like

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s. Although no

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are apparent above the soil line, the younger parts of the

are covered by red-brown, papery, triangular scales, which also cover the base of the culms. Technically, these are reduced leaves, so strictly it is not quite correct to call this plant fully "leafless".

Ecology

Papyrus can be found in tropical rain forests, tolerating annual temperatures of and a

soil pH Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. pH is defined as the neg ...

of 6.0 to 8.5. It flowers in late summer, and prefers full sun to partly shady conditions. Like most tropical plants, it is sensitive to frost. In the United States, it has become invasive in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and has escaped from cultivation in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Papyrus sedge forms vast stands in swamps, shallow lakes, and along stream banks throughout the wetter parts of Africa, but it has become rare in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

. In deeper waters, it is the chief constituent of the floating, tangled masses of vegetation known as ''

sudd The Sudd (, Nuer: Baki̱ec, Dinka: Toc) is a vast swamp in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile's '' Baḥr al-Jabal'' section. The Arabic word ' is derived from ' (), meaning "barrier" or "obstruction". The term "the sudd" has come to ref ...

''. It also occurs in

, and some Mediterranean areas such as

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

. The "feather-duster" flowering heads make ideal nesting sites for many social species of birds. As in most sedges,

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...

is by wind, not insects, and the mature fruits after release are distributed by water. Papyrus is a C4 sedge that forms highly productive

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

stands over large areas of wetland in Africa.

Cultivation

The papyrus plant is relatively easy to grow from seed, though in Egypt, it is more common to split the

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to ...

, and grows quite fast once established. Extremely moist soil or roots sunken in the water is preferred and the plant can flower all year long. Vegetative propagation is the suggested process of creating new plants. It is done by splitting the rhizomes into small groups and planting normally. It can reach heights of up to 16 feet tall. ''C.'' ''papyrus'' is considered to be hardy in

USDA hardiness zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

9 and 10. ''C. papyrus'' and the dwarf

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

''C. papyrus'' 'Nanus' have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

(confirmed 2017).

Papyrus in history

In Ancient Egypt, papyrus was used for various purposes such as baskets, sandals, blankets, medicine, incense, and boats. The woody root was used to make bowls and utensils, and was burned for fuel. The Papyrus Ebers refers to the use of soft papyrus tampons by Egyptian women in the 15th century BC. Egyptians made efficient use of all parts of the plant. Papyrus was an important "gift of the Nile" which is still preserved and perpetuated in Egyptian culture. Egyptians used the plant (which they called ''aaru'', or the subspecies ''C. p. papyrus'', which came very close to extinction, but was rediscovered in 1968.) for many purposes, including for making papyrus paper. Its name has an uncertain origin, but was rendered in

Hellenistic Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...

as πάπυρος. In the

, ''Cyperus papyrus'' was widely cultivated in ancient times. It is for example depicted on a restored

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

fragment from the palace of

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...

near the present-day village of Malkata. Currently, only a small population remains in Egypt, in

Wadi El Natrun Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; , "measure of the hearts") is a Depression (geology), depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron- ...

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

's ''History of Plants'' (Book iv. 10) states that it grew in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, and according to Pliny's ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

'', it was also a native plant of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...

and the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

. Neither the explorer

Peter Forsskål Peter Forsskål, sometimes spelled Pehr Forsskål, Peter Forskaol, Petrus Forskål or Pehr Forsskåhl (11 January 1732 – 11 July 1763) was a Sweden, Swedish exploration, explorer, oriental studies, orientalist, natural history, naturalist, and ...

, an apostle of Carl Linnaeus, in the 18th century, nor the Napoleonic expedition saw it in the delta. Aside from papyrus, several other members of the genus ''Cyperus'' may also have been involved in the multiple uses Egyptians found for the plant. Its flowering heads were linked to make garlands for the gods in gratitude. The pith of young shoots was eaten both cooked and raw. Its woody root made bowls and other utensils and was burned for fuel. From the stems were made

reed boat Reed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced wit ...

s (seen in

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s of the Fourth Dynasty showing men cutting papyrus to build a boat; similar boats are still made in southern

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

), sails, mats, cloth, cordage, and sandals. Theophrastus states that King Antigonus made the rigging of his fleet of papyrus, an old practice illustrated by the ship's cable, wherewith the doors were fastened when Odysseus slew the suitors in his hall (''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' xxi. 390). The adventurer

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

had a boat built for him of papyrus, ''Ra'', in an attempt to demonstrate that ancient African or Mediterranean people could have reached America. He was unsuccessful with this boat. Fishermen in the

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta or Okavango Grassland is a vast inland delta in Botswana formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an elevation of in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari Desert. It is a UNESCO Wor ...

use small sections of the stem as floats for their nets.

References

*Boar, R. R., D. M. Harper and C. S. Adams. 1999. Biomass Allocation in Cyperus papyrus in a Tropical Wetland, Lake Naivasha, Kenya. 1999. ''Biotropica'' 3: 411. *Chapman, L.J., C.A. Chapman, R. Ogutu-Ohwayo, M. Chandler, L. Kaufman and A.E. Keiter. 1996. Refugia for endangered fishes from an introduced predator in Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. ''Conservation Biology'' 10: 554–561. *Chapman, L.J., C.A. Chapman, P.J. Schofield, J.P. Olowo, L. Kaufman, O. Seehausen and R. Ogutu-Ohwayo. 2003. Fish faunal resurgence in Lake Nabugabo, East Africa. ''Conservation Biology'' 17: 500–511. *Gaudet, John. 1975. Mineral concentrations in papyrus in various African swamps. ''Journal of Ecology'' 63: 483–491. *Gaudet, John. 1976. Nutrient relationships in the detritus of a tropical swamp.''Archiv für Hydrobiologie'' 78: 213–239. *Gaudet, John. 1977. Natural drawdown on Lake Naivasha, Kenya and the formation of papyrus swamps. ''

Aquatic Botany ''Aquatic Botany'' ("An International Scientific Journal dealing with Applied and Fundamental Research on Submerged, Floating and Emergent Plants in Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems") is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on struc ...

'' 3: 1-47. *Gaudet, John. 1977. Uptake and loss of mineral nutrients by papyrus in tropical swamps. ''Ecology'' 58: 415–422. *Gaudet, John. 1978. Effect of a tropical swamp on water quality. ''Verh. Internat. Ver. Limnol.'' 20: 2202–2206. *Gaudet, John. 1978. Seasonal changes in nutrients in a tropical swamp. ''Journal of Ecology'' 67: 953–981. *Gaudet, John. 1980. Papyrus and the ecology of Lake Naivasha. ''National Geographic Society Research Reports''. 12: 267–272. *Gaudet, J. and J. Melack. 1981. Major ion chemistry in a tropical African lake basin. ''Freshwater Biology'' 11: 309–333. *Gaudet, J. and C. Howard-Williams. 1985. "The structure and functioning of African swamps." In (ed. Denny) ''The Ecology and Management of African Wetland Vegetation.'' Dr.w.Junk, Pub., Dordrecht (pp. 154–175). *Gaudet, John. 1991. Structure and function of African floodplains. ''Journal of the East African Natural Historical Society''. 82(199): 1-32. *Harper, D.M., K.M. Mavuti and S. M. Muchiri. 1990: Ecology and management of Lake Naivasha, Kenya, in relation to climatic change, alien species introductions and agricultural development. ''Environmental Conservation'' 17: 328–336. *Harper, D. 1992. The ecological relationships of aquatic plants at Lake Naivasha, Kenya. ''

Hydrobiologia ''Hydrobiologia'', ''The International Journal of Aquatic Sciences'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing 21 issues per year, for a total of well over 4000 pages per year. ''Hydrobiologia'' publishes original research, reviews and op ...

''. 232: 65–71. *Howard-Williams, C. and K. Thompson. 1985. ''The conservation and management of African wetlands.'' In (ed. Denny) The Ecology and Management of African Wetland Vegetation. Dr.w.Junk, Pub., Dordrecht (pp. 203–230). *Jones, M.B. and T. R. Milburn. 1978. Photosynthesis in Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.), ''Photosynthetica''. 12: 197 - 199. *Jones, M. B. and F. M. Muthuri. 1997. Standing biomass and carbon distribution in a papyrus (Cyperus Papyrus L) swamp on Lake Naivasha, Kenya. ''Journal of Tropical Ecology''. 13: 347–356. *Jones M.B. and S. W. Humphries. 2002. Impacts of the C4 sedge Cyperus papyrus L. on carbon and water fluxes in an African wetland. ''

'', Volume 488, pp. 107–113. *Maclean, I.M.D. 2004. An ecological and socio-economic analysis of biodiversity conservation in East African wetlands. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of East Anglia, Norwich. *Maclean, I.M.D., M. Hassall, M. R. Boar and I. Lake. 2006. Effects of disturbance and habitat loss on papyrus-dwelling passerines. ''Biological Conservation.'', 131: 349–358. *Maclean, I.M.D., M. Hassall, R. Boar, R. and O. Nasirwa. 2003a. Effects of habitat degradation on avian guilds in East African papyrus Cyperus papyrus L. swamps. ''Bird Conservation International'', 13: 283–297. *Maclean, I.M.D., R. Tinch, M. Hassall and R.R. Boar, R.R. 2003b. Social and economic use of wetland resources: a case study from Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda. Environmental Change and Management Working Paper No. 2003-09, Centre for Social and Economic Research into the Global Environment, University of East Anglia, Norwich. *Maclean, I.M.D., R. Tinch, M. Hassall and R.R. Boar. 2003c. Towards optimal use of tropical wetlands: an economic evaluation of goods derived from papyrus swamps in southwest Uganda. Environmental Change and Management Working Paper No. 2003-10, Centre for Social and Economic Research into the Global Environment, University of East Anglia, Norwich. *Messenger Dally. 1908 How papyrus defeated South Sydney and assisted in making Eastern Suburbs great *Muthuri, F. M., M. B. Jones, and S.K. Imbamba. 1989. Primary productivity of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) in a tropical swamp - Lake Naivasha, Kenya, ''Biomass'', 18: 1 - 14. *Muthuri, F. M. and M. B. Jones. 1997. Nutrient distribution in a papyrus swamp: Lake Naivasha, Kenya. ''Aquatic Botany'', 56: 35–50. *Owino, A. O. and P. G. Ryan. 2006. Habitat associations of papyrus specialist birds at three papyrus swamps in western Kenya. ''African Journal of Ecology'' 44: 438–443. *Thompson, K. 1976. Swamp development in the head waters of the White Nile. In (ed.J. Rzoska) ''The Nile. Biology of an Ancient River.''Monographiae Biologicae, 29. Dr.W. Junk b.v., The Hague. *Thompson, K., P.R. Shewry & H.W. Woolhouse. 1979. Papyrus swamp development in the Upemba Basin, Zaire: Studies of population structure in Cyperus papyrus stands. ''Botanical Journal of the Linn. Soc.'' 78: 299–316.

External links

Purdue University: ''Cyperus papyrus'' factsheetFloridata
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q158808