Cyperus echinatus

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Cyperaceae

Herbs, annual or perennial , cespitose or not, rhizomatous or not, stoloniferous or not. Roots fibrous , principally adventitious. Stems (culms ) usually trigonous , occasionally terete , rarely compressed , usually solid, rarely hollow or septate . Leaves basal and/or cauline, alternate, usually 3-ranked, rarely 2-ranked or multi-ranked, bases forming cylindric sheaths enclosing stem, margins usually fused; junction of sheaths and blades often with adaxial flaps of tissue or fringes of hair (ligules) ; blades frequently absent from some basal leaves , rarely from cauline leaves, when present divergent or ascending , flat, folded, plicate , rolled, or terete, linear , venation parallel. Primary inflorescences (spikelets ) a shortened axis; glumaceous bracts (scales ) 1-many, spirally arranged , sometimes 2-ranked, usually appressed or ascending; scales usually all fertile , each subtending a single flower, sometimes proximal and/or distal scales empty; lateral spikes often with basal, usually empty, usually 2-keeled scale (prophyll) ; occasionally prophyll subtending and enclosing rachilla, bearing 1 pistillate , sometimes (0-) 3 staminate flowers and empty scales (Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia) . Secondary inflorescences panicles, often modified to corymb, pseudoumbel, cyme (anthela), raceme , spike, or capitulum (head ), rarely single spike, usually subtended by foliaceous or, less frequently, glumaceous bracts; secondary inflorescences sometimes simulating spikelets (Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia) . Flowers hypogynous, bisexual in most genera, unisexual in Scleria, Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia; perianth absent or with (1-) 3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales, usually falling off with fruit; stamens usually (1-) 3, rarely more, usually distinct ; anthers basifixed ; pistils 1, 2-3(-4) -carpellate, fused, locule 1; style undivided or branches 2-3(-4) ; stigma sometimes papillate . Fruits achenes, usually trigonous or biconvex ; pericarps thin (except in Scleria) . Seeds 1; testa thin, free from pericarp; embryo basal; endosperm abundant. x = 5-ca. 100.

Genera ca. 100, species ca. 5000 (27 genera, 843 species in the flora ) : worldwide.

No consensus exists regarding the number of genera and the overall relationships of genera within Cyperaceae. The most recent account of the family (P. Goetghebeur 1998) recognized 104 genera distributed among 4 subfamilies and 14 tribes . That arrangement differs somewhat from that of J. Bruhl (1995) . With one minor exception the arrangement of the family here follows that of Goetghebeur.

The family is characterized by the occurrence of a number of unusual cytological features including: (1) chromosomes with diffuse centromeres , (2) post-reductional meiosis, and (3) pollen grains formed from tetrads in which 3 of the 4 microspores fail to develop. The first two features are found in at least some Juncaceae and are unique to the two families. Juncaceae also have pollen in tetrads, but in that family all four microspores produce pollen grains. Some species in some genera of Cyperaceae (particularly Eleocharis) possess chromosomes with localized centromeres (S. S. Bir et al. 1993) . The wide range of chromosome numbers found in Cyperaceae is largely because of agmatoploidy; polyploidy has been hypothesized for some genera, especially Eleocharis, although polyploidy has not been demonstrated unequivocally.

Because of morphologic similarities in vegetative and inflorescence characters, the family has commonly been associated with Poaceae. Cytological features discussed above clearly indicate that to be a superficial similarity . Data from rbcL studies also support the view that Cyperaceae and Poaceae are not closely related (M. R. Duvall et al. 1993b; G. M. Plunkett et al. 1995) ; they do support the concept of close relationship between Cyperaceae and Juncaceae.

For most families of flowering plants the phenological data given are flowering times. Because most Cyperaceae cannot be reliably identified when in flower, in this volume fruiting time is given for all species by season , sometimes qualified by early, mid, or late, or by months. The fruiting time has been interpreted broadly to include the period when the fruit is more or less fully formed but not yet ripe . The fruiting period provided covers the entire range of the taxon . Quite a difference between fruiting periods in different parts of the range of the species may well occur, especially for widespread species and species with extensive elevation range.

For a recent, comprehensive review of the economic importance of Cyperaceae, see D. A. Simpson and C. A. Inglis (2001) .[1]

Genus Cyperus

Herbs, perennial or less often annual , cespitose or not, rhizomatous , stoloniferous , rarely tuberous . Culms solitary or not, trigonous or round , glabrous or scabridulous with extrorse or antrorse (rarely retrorse ) prickles. Leaves usually basal; ligules absent; blades keeled abaxially, flat, V-, or inversely W-shaped in cross section . Inflorescences terminal , rarely pseudolateral, 1st order subumbellate to capitate, 2d order with spicate or digitately arranged spikelets , rarely a solitary spikelet; spikelets 1-150; 1st order rays unequal (rarely equal) in length , produced singly from the axils of inflorescence bracts ; involucral bracts 1-22, spirally arranged at culm apex, spreading to erect , leaflike. Spikelets: scales to 76, distichous, each subtending flower, cylindric to compressed , borne spicately or digitately at ends of rays (occasionally proliferous) . Flowers bisexual [rarely unisexual ], in axils of distichous floral scales, bases often decurrent onto rachilla as ± hyaline wings ; perianth absent; stamens 1-3; styles linear , 2-3-fid, base deciduous or persistent ; stigmas 2-3. Achenes biconvex , flattened, or trigonous.

Species ca. 600: pantemperate and tropical .[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Disturbed , sunny sites, in mesic places, well-drained soils; 0-500 m [3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,129 meters (0 to 3,704 feet).[4]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 6-9" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

C. ovularis var. americanus Boeckeler; C. Ovularis Var. sphaericus Boeckeler • C. ovularis var. wolfii (Alph. Wood) Kükenthal • C. wolfii Alph. Wood • Cyperus ovularis (Michaux) Torrey • Cyperus ovularis (Michx.) Torr. • Cyperus ovularis var. sphaericus Boeckl. • Kyllinga ovularis Michaux; Mariscus ovularis (Michaux) Vahl • Scirpus echinatus Linnaeus

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 21-Jun-2005

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Cyperus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 172 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

C. acuminatus (Short-Point Flatsedge) · C. aggregatus (Inflated Scale Flatsedge) · C. albostriatus (Dwarf Umbrella Grass) · C. alopecuroides (Foxtail Flatsedge) · C. alternifolia (Umbrella Plant) · C. alternifolius var. Gracilis (Dwarf Umbrella Plant) · C. amabilis (Foothill Flatsedge) · C. amuricus (Asian Flatsedge) · C. aromaticus (Navua Sedge) · C. articulatus (Jointed Flatsedge) · C. auriculatus (Eared Flatsedge) · C. bipartitus (Brook Flatsedge) · C. calcicola (Caribbean Flatsedge) · C. cephalanthus (Buttonbush Flatsedge) · C. compressus (Poorland Flat Sedge) · C. confertus (West Indian Flatsedge) · C. congestus (Clustered Flatsedge) · C. croceus (Baldwin's Cyperus) · C. cuspidatus (Coastal Plain Flatsedge) · C. cyperinus (Old World Flatsedge) · C. cyperoides pseudoflavus (Pacific Island Flatsedge) · C. deamii (Deam's Flatsedge) · C. dentatus (Toothed Flatsedge) · C. dentoniae (Hairy Flatsedge) · C. diandrus (Umbrella Flat Sedge) · C. difformis (Smallflower Umbrella Sedge) · C. diffusus (Dwarf Umbrella Grass) · C. digitatus (Finger Flatsegde) · C. dioicus (Flatsedge) · C. dipsaceus (Wright Flatsedge) · C. distans (Piedmont Flatsedge) · C. distinctus (Marshland Flatsedge) · C. echinatus (Globe Flatsedge) · C. elegans (Royal Flatsedge) · C. entrerianus (Deeprooted Sedge) · C. eragrostis (Drain Flat-Sedge) · C. erythrorhizos (Red-Root Flat Sedge) · C. esculentus (Yellow Nutsedge) · C. esculentus L. var. esculentus (Chufa Flatsedge) · C. esculentus var. esculentus (Chufa Flatsedge) · C. esculentus var. hermannii (Yellow Nutsedge) · C. esculentus var. leptostachyus (Yellow Nutsedge) · C. esculentus var. macrostachyus (Yellow Nutsedge) · C. esculentus var. sativus (Chufa) · C. exaltatus (Tall Flat-Sedge) · C. fauriei (Alpine Flatsedge) · C. fendlerianus (Fendler Flatsedge) · C. filicinus (Fern Flatsedge) · C. filiformis (Wiry Flatsedge) · C. flavescens (Pale Flatsedge) · C. flavicomus (White-Edge Flatsedge) · C. flexuosus (Vahl's Flatsedge) · C. floribundus (Rio Grande Sedge) · C. floridanus (Florida Flatsedge) · C. fugax (Withering Flatsedge) · C. fuligineus (Limestone Flatsedge) · C. fuscus (Brown Flatsedge) · C. giganteus (Giant Flatsedge) · C. glaber (Galingale) · C. gracilis (Slimjim Flatsedge) · C. granitophilus (Granite Flatsedge) · C. grayi (Gray's Flatsedge) · C. grayoides (Illinois Flatsedge) · C. haspan (Haspan Flatsedge) · C. hermaphroditus (Hermaphrodite Flatsedge) · C. hillebrandii (Hillebrand's Flatsedge) · C. hillebrandii var. decipiens (Hillebrand's Flatsedge) · C. hillebrandii var. hillebrandii (Hillebrand's Flatsedge) · C. houghtonii (Houghton's Flatsedge) · C. hyalinus (Queensland Sedge) · C. hypochlorus (Oahu Flatsedge) · C. hypochlorus var. brevior (Oahu Flatsedge) · C. hypochlorus var. hypochlorus (Oahu Flatsedge) · C. hypochlorus var. kauaiensis (Oahu Flatsedge) · C. hypopitys (Pinewoods Sedge) · C. hystricinus (Bristly Flatsedge) · C. imbricatus (Shingle Flatsegde) · C. involucratus (Galingale) · C. iria (Iria Flatsedge) · C. isocladus (Dwarf Papyrus) · C. javanicus (Javanese Flatsedge) · C. kunthianus (Maui Flatsedge) · C. kyllinga (Spikesedge) · C. laevigatus (Smooth Flatsedge) · C. lancastriensis (Many-Flowered Umbrella-Sedge) · C. lanceolatus (Epiphytic Flatsedge) · C. lecontei (Le Conte's Flatsedge) · C. lentiginosus (Latin American Flatsedge) · C. ligularis (Alabama Swamp Flatsedge) · C. longus (Sweet Cyperus) · C. louisianensis (Louisiana Flatsedge) · C. lucidus (Leafy Flat-Sedge) · C. lupulinus lupulinus (Great Plains Flatsedge) · C. lupulinus subsp. macilentus (Great Plains Flatsedge) · C. manimae (Smoothstem Flatsedge) · C. manimae var. asperrimus (Spectacular Flatsedte) · C. meyenianus (Meyen's Flatsedge) · C. mutisii (Mutis Flatsedge) · C. nanus (Indian Flatsedge) · C. nanus var. nanus (Indian Flatsedge)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A manual of weeds, with descriptions of all the most pernicious and troublesome plants in the United States and Canada, their habits of growth and distribution, with methods of control, by Ada E. Georgia. .. with 385 illustrations by F. Schuyler Mathews. .. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916, c1914. url p. 72.
• A manual of weeds: with descriptions of all the most pernicious and troublesome plants in the United States and Canada, their habits of growth and distribution, with methods of control / New York: Macmillan, 1919, c1914. url .
• American forests. Washington [etc.]American Forestry Association [etc.] url p. 552.
• An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions: from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102nd meridian / by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Hon. Addison Brown. New York: Scribner, 1913. url p. 310.
• Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. New York, New York Academy of Sciences. url p. 287.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 6 1901 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 189, p. 315, p. 395, p. 51.
• Flora of Guatemala / by Paul C. Standley and Julian A. Steyermark. 24 1958 Chicago: Chicago Museum of Natural History, 1958. url p. 124.
• Flora of Pennsylvania. Edited with the addition of analytical keys by John Kunkel Small. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1903. url p. 45.
• Flora of Yucatan, by Paul C. Standley. 3 1930 Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 1930. url p. 214.
• Flora of the southeastern United States; being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and in Oklahom by John Kunkel Small. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 164, p. 174.
• Handbook of the flora of Philadelphia and vicinity, containing data relating to the plants within the following radius: eastern Pennsylvania; all of New Jersey except the northern counties; and New Castle County, Delaware, with keys for identification comp. by Ida A. Keller and Stewardson Brown. Philadelphia, Philadelphia Botanical Club, 1905. url p. 61.
• List of Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta growing without cultivation in northeastern North America. Prepared by a Committee of the Botanical Club, American Association for the Advancement of Science. New York, 1894. url p. 60.
• Manual of the flora of the northern states and Canada / by Nathaniel Lord Britton. New York: Holt, 1905. url p. 166.
• Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. 5 1893 - 18 Durham, N.C.: Published for the Club by the Seeman Printery, 1889- url p. 60.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 118, p. 326, p. 451.
• Plant covering of Ocracoke Island; a study in the ecology of the North Carolina strand vegetation. By Thomas H. Kearney, jr. Washington, Gov't Print. Off., 1900. url p. 315.
• Plant life of Alabama, an account of the distribution, modes of association, and adaptations of the flora of Alabama, together with a systematic catalogue of the plants growing in the state. By Charles Mohr. .. Montgomery, Ala., Brown printing co., 1901. url p. 189, p. 395.
• Plant life of Alabama: an account of the distribution, modes of association, and adaptations of the flora of Alabama, together with a systematic catalogue of the plants growing in the state / by Charles Mohr. Montgomery, Ala.: Brown Printing Co., 1901. url p. 395.
• Plantae Yucatanae. (Regionis Antillanae) Plants of the insular, coastal and plain regions of the peninsula of Yucatan, Mexico. [By Charles Frederick Millspaugh.]. 3 1903 Chicago, 1903-1904. url p. 71, p. 72.
• Plants of Mississippi: a list of flowering plants and ferns / by E.N. Lowe. [Jackson, Miss.]: Mississippi State Geological Survey, 1921. url p. 98.
• Preliminary catalog of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta, reported as growing spontaneously within one hundred miles of New York City. New York, 1888. url p. 88.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 43.
• Small, J. K. Flora of the southeastern United States;being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolin, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and the Indian territory and in Oklahoma and Texas east of the one-hundredth meridian /by John Kunkel Small. .. 1903 New York: The author, 1903. url p. 1321, p. 164.
• The flora of the metamorphic region of Alabama / by F.S. Earle. Montgomery, Ala.: Brown Printing Co., 1902. url p. 60.
• The vegetation of south Florida south of 27 30 north, exclusive of the Florida keys, by John W. Harshberger. Philadelphia, Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1914. url p. 143.
• Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. Topeka, Kan.: W.Y. Morgan, 1903- url p. 101.
• Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia. 7 1910 Philadelphia: Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia, 1887-1927. url p. 143.
• Bruhl, J. 1995. Sedge genera of the world: Relationships and a new classification of the Cyperaceae. Austral. Syst. Bot. 8: 125-305.
• Goetghebeur, P. 1998. Cyperaceae. In: K. Kubitzki et al., eds. 1990+. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. 4+ vols. Berlin etc. Vol. 4, pp. 141-190.
• Mackenzie, K. K. 1931-1935. Cyperaceae [in part]. In: N. L. Britton et al., eds. 1905+. North American Floraâ¦. 47+ vols. New York. Vol. 18, parts 1-7, pp. 1-478.
• Simpson, D. A. and C. A. Inglis. 2001. Cyperaceae of economic, ethnobotanical and horticultural importance: A checklist. Kew Bull. 56: 257-360.
• Svenson, H. K. 1957. Cyperaceae. Tribe 2, Scirpeae. In: N. L. Britton et al., eds. 1905+. North American Flora.... 47+ vols. New York. Vol. 18, pp. 505-556.
• Tucker, G. C. 1987. The genera of Cyperaceae in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arbor. 68: 361-445.
• Carter, J. R. 1984. A Systematic Study of the New World Species of Section Umbellati of Cyperus. Ph.D. dissertation. Vanderbilt University.
• Corcoran, M. L. 1941. A revision of the subgenus Pycreus in North and South America. Catholic Univ. Amer., Biol. Ser. 37: 168.
• Denton, M. F. 1978b. The Luzulae group of Cyperus (Cyperaceae). Contr. Univ. Michigan Herb. 11: 197271.
• Horvat, M. L. 1941. A revision of the subgenus Mariscus found in the United States. Catholic Univ. Amer., Biol. Ser. 33: 1147.
• Marcks, B. G. 1972. Population Studies of North American Cyperus Section Laxiglumi (Cyperaceae). Ph.D. dissertation. University of Wisconsin.
• Marcks, B. G. 1974. Preliminary reports on the flora of Wisconsin, no. 66. Cyperaceae II Sedge family II. The genus Cyperusthe umbrella sedges. Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci. 62: 261284.
• McGivney, M. V. 1938. A revision of the subgenus Eucyperus found in the United States. Catholic Univ. Amer., Biol. Ser. 26: 174.
• Tucker, G. C. 1983. The taxonomy of Cyperus (Cyperaceae) in Costa Rica and Panama. Syst. Bot. Mongr. 2: 185.
• Tucker, G. C. 1994. A revision of the Mexican species of Cyperus L. (Cyperaceae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 43: 1214.
• Tucker, G. C. and R. McVaugh. 1993. Cyperus. In: R. McVaugh and W. R. Anderson, eds. 1974+. Flora Novo-Galiciana: A Descriptive Account of the Vascular Plants of Western Mexico. 8+ vols. Ann Arbor. Vol. 3, pp. 270344.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 21, 2007:

• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Alabama Biodiversity and Systematics, Herbarium

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2666555
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-236448
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13759045
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:304373-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 449503
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 501920
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMCYP064C0
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: CYEC2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 33919

Footnotes

1. Peter W. Ball, A. A. Reznicek, David F. Murray "Cyperaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 23 Page 3, 4, 192, 243, 252. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Gordon C. Tucker, Brian G. Marcks & J. Richard Carter "Cyperus". in Flora of North America Vol. 23 Page 7, 141, 154, 162, 163, 164, 168, 170, 184,. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Cyperus". in Flora of North America Vol. 23 Page 149, 182, 183. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
4. Mean = 165.310 meters (542.356 feet), Standard Deviation = 126.460 based on 715 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.