Cyperus exaltatus

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

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

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,625 meters (0 to 5,331 feet).[3]

Biology

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 21-Jun-2005

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)

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Further Reading

• A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon: containing descriptions of all the species of flowering plants indigenous to the island, and notes on their history, distribution, and uses: with an atlas of plates illustrating some of the more inte by Henry Trimen. London: Dulau, 1893-1931. url p. 17, p. 32.
• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 109.
• Bengal plants: a list of the phanerogams, ferns and fern-allies indigenous to, or commonly cultivated in, the Lower provinces and Chittagong, with definitions of the natural orders and genera, and keys to the genera and species. 2 1903 Calcutta: Botanical Survey of India1903. url p. 1145.
• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 109.
• Bulletin / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology. Washington: G.P.O., 1904-1916. url p. 59.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1907 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 266, p. 268, p. 406.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: The Museum, 1951-1992. url p. 398.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 515, p. 516, p. 52.
• Experiment station record. Washington: G.P.O., 1889-1946. url p. 162.
• Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url p. 601, p. 602.
• Flora of Japan: in English: combined, much revised and extended translation / by the author of his Flora of Japan (1953) and Flora of Japan, Pteridophyta (1957); edited by Frederick G. Meyer and Egbert H. Walker. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1965. url p. 198.
• Flora of the upper Gangetic plain, and of the adjacent Siwalik and sub-Himalayan tracts, by J. F. Duthie. Calcutta, Superintendent of Government Printing, 1903-29. url p. 324.
• Hooker, J. D. The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843: under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross /by Joseph Dalton Hooker. 3 1860 London: Reeve Brothers, 1844-60. url p. xlvii.
• Hooker, W. J. & G. A. W. Arnott. The botany of Captain Beechey's voyage;comprising an acount of the plants collected by Messrs. Lay and Collie, and other officers of the expedition, during the voyage to the Pacific and Behring's Strait, performed in His Majesty's ship Blossom, under the command of Captain F. W. Beechey. .. in the years 1825, 26, 27, and 28.By Sir William Jackson Hooker. .. and G. A. Walker Arnott. .. 1841 London, H. G. Bohn, 1841. url p. 312.
• Hooker, W. J. et al. Niger flora;or, An enumeration of the plants of western tropical Africa, collected by the late Dr. Theodore Vogel, botanist to the voyage of the expedition sent by Her Britannic Majesty to the river Niger in 1841, under the command of Capt. H. D. Trotter, R.N., &c.; including Spicilegia gorgonea, by P. B. Webb, esq., and Flora nigritiana, by Dr. J. D. Hooker. .. and George Bentham, esq. with a sketch of the life of Dr. Vogel. Ed. by Sir W. J. Hooker. .. With two views, a map, and fifty plates. 1849 London, H. Bailliere; [etc., etc.] 1849. url p. 551.
• IUCN Directory of Afrotropical Protected Areas IUCN, UNEP url p. 490.
• Niger flora; or, An enumeration of the plants of western tropical Africa, collected by the late Dr. Theodore Vogel, botanist to the voyage of the expedition sent by Her Britannic Majesty to the river Niger in 1841, under the command of Capt. H. D. Trotter, R.N., &c.; includ London, H. Bailliere; [etc., etc.]1849. url p. 551.
• Phytologia memoirs. Plainfield, N.J.: H.N. Moldenke and A.L. Moldenke, 1980- url p. 66.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url p. 309, p. 800.
• Select extra-tropical plants readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalisation with indications of their native countries and some of their uses / by Baron Ferd. von Mueller. Melbourne: C. Troedel and Co., 1891. url p. 144.
• Sketch of the forestry of West Africa with particular reference to its present principal commercial products. London, S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1887. url .
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 36 1903-05 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 212, p. 23, p. 30, p. 31, p. 39.
• The Philippine journal of science. 2 1907 Manila. url p. 86.
• The Uganda protectorate; an attempt to give some description of the physical geography, botany, zoology, anthropology, languages and history of the territories under British protection in East Central Africa, between the Cong by Sir Harry Johnston. .. With 506 illustrations from drawings and photographs by the author and others, 48 full-page coloured plates by the author and 9 maps by J.G. Bartholomew and the author. London, Hutchinson & Co., 1902. url p. 328.
• The botany of Bihar and Orissa: an account of all the known indigenous plants of the province and of the most important or most commonly cultivated exotic ones / with maps and introduction by H. H. Haines. London: Printed by Adlard and sold by agents for Indian Official Publications, 1921-25. url p. 1249.
• The flora of British India /By J. D. Hooker assisted by various botanists. Published under the authority of the secretary of state for India in council. 6 1894 London: L. Reeve, 1875-97. url p. 596, p. 596, p. 608.
• The flora of British India. London, L. Reeve & Co., 1875-97. url .
• The flora of the presidency of Bombay / By Theodore Cooke. London: Taylor and Francis, 1903-08. url p. 872.
• Transactions and proceedings and report of the Royal Society of South Australia. Adelaide, Australia: The Society, 1880-1889. url p. 105.
• Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia (Incorporated). Adelaide: W.C. Rigby, 1912-1937. url p. 565.
• 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 22, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
• Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility, Magnoliophyta

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 8504787
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-236548
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13746017
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:304447-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 977136

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. Mean = 217.680 meters (714.173 feet), Standard Deviation = 287.570 based on 123 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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