''Cyperus bulbosus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

found across Africa, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In Australia, it is commonly called Nalgoo or (Australian) bush onion or "

wild onion Wild onion can refer to * any uncultivated species in the genus '' Allium'', especially: **'' Allium bisceptrum'' ** '' Allium canadense'' ** ''Allium tricoccum ''Allium tricoccum'' (commonly known as ramp, ramps, ramson, wild leek, wood leek, o ...

", but is not related to the

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

or other

Alliaceae Allioideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. It was formerly treated as a separate family, Alliaceae. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, '' Allium'' ...

. It is a component of Australian

bushfood Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or ...

, but is considered an agricultural

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

in other areas.

Description

Morphology

''Cyperus bulbosus'' is a perennial sedge. Typically, green to straw in colour, the slender plant propagates via

rhizomes 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 ...

(horizontal, underground stem extensions), ending at bulbs. Approximately, 20-40 cm in height (appox. 8-16 inches), it has fragments (or culms) as long as its leaves (which are typically 1-2mm wide). Stems are known as triquetrous/trigonous (i.e. rounded-triangle shaped cross-section). Its flower bundle (i.e.

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

) is much longer than the leaves. Flowers appear as “spikes” that can extend up to approximately 5 cm. They consist of involucre bracts, meaning that a collection of leaf and petal-like extensions support the flower (just beneath the petals). Spikelets (i.e. arrangement of the flowers/florets) of the plant appear flattened . Each “spike” contains approximately 10-30 spikeletes which are 10-25mm long. Usually, five to 20 of these are flowered. Lastly, glumes (membranous bracts) subacute (slightly rounded), with 3-5 nerves on either side of the keel, which in itself is approximately 3-5 mm long. Leaves are known to be trigonous, obovoid or

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

. They are approximately 1.3 to 1.55 mm long.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist

Martin Vahl Martin Henrichsen Vahl (10 October 1749 – 24 December 1804) was a Danish-Norwegian botanist, herbalist and zoologist. Biography Martin Vahl was born in Bergen, Norway and attended Bergen Cathedral School. He studied botany at the University ...

in 1805 as a part of the work ''Enumeratio Plantarum''. It has four

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

; ''Cyperus subulatus'' var. ''confertus''

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

in 1878, ''Cyperus bulbosus'' var. ''elatior'' by Kük. in 1936, ''Cyperus andrewsii'' by

C.B.Clarke Charles Baron Clarke (17 June 1832 – 25 August 1906) was a British botanist. He was born at Andover, Hampshire, Andover, the eldest son of Turner Poulter Clarke. He was educated at King's College School, London, and at Trinity College, Cambrid ...

in 1908 and ''Cyperus bulbosus'' Vahl var. ''bulbosus'' by Kük. in 1936.

Ecology

A 12-year study, assessing the diet of Central Australian

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

s, found that ''Cyperus bulbosus'' was a common food plant as indicated by a "palatability index" score of 3. The index ranges from 1 ("only eaten when nothing else is available") to 7 ("could be killed by camel browsing"). The

Raso lark The Raso lark (''Alauda razae'') is a small passerine bird with a highly restricted range, being found only on Raso islet in the Cape Verde Islands. This critically endangered member of the family Alaudidae lives in very arid terrain, and is co ...

, endemic to the Cape Verde Islands, is heavily dependent on ''Cyperus bulbosus'' for food. In addition, ''Cyperus bulbosus'' is a well-established threat/pest to the rice plant. It has a particular impact on rice crop cultivation, in agriculture; competing for nutrients in spaces that may already be finite in supply. Other animals, such as the bilby and

brolga The brolga (''Antigone rubicunda''), formerly known as the native companion, is a bird in the crane family. It has also been given the name Australian crane, a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithologist John Gould in his ''Birds of Austral ...

are documented to include ''Cyperus bulbosus'' in their diets. Furthermore, ''Cyperus bulbosus'' has competitive relationships with

couch grass Couch grass, as a vernacular common name, may refer to: * ''Cynodon dactylon'', known as couch grass in Australia and South Africa, often planted as a turf grass * ''Elymus repens'', known as couch grass in the United Kingdom and North America, of ...

and buffelgrass.

Cultural significance

Its name in the

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

language of

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

is ''merne yalke''. In a neighbouring language, Kaytetye, it is called ''erreyakwerra''. Some Kaytetye, the Kwerrimpe women, have a bush onion dreaming which involves the bush onion and the origins of the Kaytetye people and language. This means they have been given stories of the origins of the bush onion, and are entitled to tell these stories and paint about them. Artists who have painted bush onion dreaming include

Nora Andy Napaltjarri Nora Andy Napaltjarri (born c. 1957) is a Warlpiri- and Luritja-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. like her mother Entalura Nangala, Nora has painted for Indigenous artists' cooperative Papunya Tula. Her work has ...

and her sister

Ada Andy Napaltjarri Ada Andy Napaltjarri (born c. 1954) is a Warlpiri– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ada was born near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, and has lived in several Northern Territory communities. ...

. The small

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

s which form on short stolons are a traditional

bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or ...

food for Australian Aboriginal peoples. They are dug up on creek banks when the grass of the onion has dried out. The husk can also be eaten. They are eaten raw or cooked in the hot earth by the fire and are said to have a "a pleasant nutty taste".

Distribution

''Cyperus bulbosus'' is found in parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Its habitat is typically notophyll vine forest,

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

woodland or

chenopod Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

shrubland. Within Australia, the plant has been documented throughout Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and large proportions of inland/central Australia. Beyond these regions, it is also known to grow in Cape York Peninsula (Queensland), North East Queensland and Central East Queensland. Due to invasive couch and buffel grass, ''Cyperus bulbosus'' numbers are known to be declining, particularly in central Australia, with report that they may face eventual extinction.

References

* Turner, Margaret-Mary, ''Arrernte Foods: Foods from Central Australia'', IAD Press, Alice Springs, 1994, , p22. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4117733 bulbosus Freshwater plants Bushfood Australian Aboriginal bushcraft Flora of Australia Plants described in 1805 Taxa named by Martin Vahl