''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 sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...
, 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
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
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 (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") 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 ...
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 tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...
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 average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
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 or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...
forest, vine thickets, 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 ...
forest and swamps in a variety of woodland and grassland areas including in salty mud and marshes of the ocean shore.Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
in Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
[ and through the ]Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
, Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
and New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.[
In the ]United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, it has been reported from a region stretching from Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
to Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
.[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 North America
Flora of South America
Flora of Asia
Flora of Madagascar
Flora of Australia
Plants described in 1773
Taxa named by Christen Friis Rottbøll