Description
They are Annual plant, annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic ecosystem, aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving water up to deep. The species vary greatly in size, with small species only tall, while others can reach in height. Common names include ''papyrus sedges'', ''flatsedges'', ''nutsedges'', ''umbrella-sedges'', ''galingales'', and ''zozoro'' (from Malagasy language, Malagasy). The stems are circular in cross-section in some, triangular in others, usually leafless for most of their length, with the slender Poaceae, grass-like leaves at the base of the plant, and in a Whorl (botany), whorl at the apex of the flowering stems. The flowers are greenish and Anemophily, wind-pollinated; they are produced in clusters among the apical leaves. The seed is a small Pyrena, nutlet.Ecology
''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. The seeds and tubers are an important food for many small birds and mammals. ''Cyperus microcristatus'' (from Cameroon) and ''Cyperus multifolius, 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, ''Cyperus rotundus, C. rotundus'', are considered invasive weeds in much of the world.Diversity
Around 700 species are currently recognised in the genus ''Cyperus''.Fossil record
Many fossil fruits of a ''Cyperus'' species have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark. 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.Use by humans
Papyrus sedge (''Cyperus papyrus, C. papyrus'') of Africa was of major historical importance in providing papyrus. ''Cyperus giganteus, C. giganteus'', locally known as ''cañita'', is used by the Yokot'an Maya peoples, Maya of Tabasco, Mexico, for weaving ''petates'' (sleeping mats) and sombreros. ''Cyperus textilis, C. textilis'' and ''Cyperus pangorei, C. pangorei'' are traditionally used to produce the typical mats of Palakkad in India, and the ''makaloa'' mats of Niihau were made from ''Cyperus laevigatus, C. laevigatus''. In Madagascar, cyperii grasses (''zozoro'') are a common material for making brooms and mats. Fabric woven from ''zozoro'' is often produced and traded by the Sihanaka with other peoples including the once-influential Merina people, Merina. Pottery with ''zozoro'' motifs are common among Antsahabeans. There is a taboo (Fady (taboo), ''fady'') surrounding one ''zozoro'' type ''C. aequalis'' as a sacred ancestral plant; in which the grass shall not be cut when the paddy grains yellow or else hail and rain will fail his own crop. The Cyperus esculentus, 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 Valencian Community, Valencia region. Several other species – e.g. Australian bush onion (''C. bulbosus'') – are eaten to a smaller extent. For some Northern Northern Paiute, Paiutes, ''Cyperus'' tubers were a mainstay food, to the extent that they were known as ''tövusi-dökadö'' ("nutsedge tuber eaters") Priprioca (''Cyperus articulatus, C. articulatus'') is one of the traditional spices of the Amazon basin, Amazon region and its reddish essential oil is used commercially both by the cosmetic industry, and increasingly as a flavoring for food. Interest is increasing in the larger, fast-growing species as crops for paper and biofuel production. Some species are grown as ornamental plant, ornamental or pot plants, notably: * ''Cyperus alternifolius'' syn. ''C. involucratus'' (umbrella papyrus) *''Cyperus albostriatus'' (dwarf umbrella sedge), formerly called ''C. diffusus'') *''Cyperus haspan'' *''Cyperus longus'' *''Cyperus papyrus'' (papyrus) 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 ''Cyperus rotundus, C. rotundus'' (purple nut-sedge) tubers are used in ''kampō''. An unspecified ''Cyperus'' is mentioned as an abortifacient in the 11th-century poem '.See also
* Amphoe Nong Prue, a district in Thailand. The name of its capital Nong Prue (หนองปรือ) literally means "''Cyperus'' swamp". * The sedge ''Carex pseudocyperus'' is a related plant convergent evolution, convergent in appearance to ''Cyperus''.References
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