Cyperus

Lore & Background

The word Cyperus comes from the ancient Greek κύπερος (kúperos), which meant one or several species of this genus. Common names include papyrus sedges, flatsedges, nutsedges, umbrella-sedges, galingales, and zozoro (from Malagasy). The species vary greatly in size, with small species only 5 centimeters tall, while others can reach 5 meters. The stems are circular in cross-section in some, triangular in others, usually leafless for most of their length, with slender grass-like leaves at the base and in a whorl at the apex of the flowering stems. The flowers are greenish and wind-pollinated, produced in clusters among the apical leaves, and the seed is a small nutlet.

Cyperus species are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Chedra microstigma, and provide an alternative food source for Bicyclus anynana larvae. The seeds and tubers are an important food for many small birds and mammals. Some species, such as Cyperus microcristatus from Cameroon and Cyperus multifolius native to Panama and Ecuador, are possibly extinct. The 'true' papyrus sedge of Ancient Egypt, Cyperus papyrus subsp. hadidii, is 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, most significantly the purple nutsedge Cyperus rotundus, are considered invasive weeds in much of the world.

Reader's Guide

Cyperus has been of major historical importance through papyrus sedge (Cyperus papyrus) of Africa, which provided papyrus. Various species have been used by humans for weaving: Cyperus giganteus (cañita) is used by the Yokot'an Maya of Tabasco, Mexico, for weaving sleeping mats and sombreros; Cyperus textilis and Cyperus pangorei are traditionally used to produce typical mats of Palakkad in India; and the makaloa mats of Niʻihau were made from Cyperus laevigatus. In Madagascar, material from cyperus (zozoro) is commonly used for making brooms and mats, with fabric woven from zozoro produced and traded by the Sihanaka. The chufa flatsedge (Cyperus esculentus) has edible tubers grown commercially, eaten as vegetables, made into sweets, or used to produce horchata in the Valencia region. Several other species, such as Australian bush onion (Cyperus bulbosus), are eaten to a smaller extent. For some Northern Paiutes, Cyperus tubers were a mainstay food. Priprioca (Cyperus articulatus) is a traditional spice of the Amazon region, with its reddish essential oil used commercially by the cosmetic industry and increasingly as a flavoring for food. Interest is increasing in larger, fast-growing species as crops for paper and biofuel production. Some species are grown as ornamental or pot plants, including Cyperus alternifolius, Cyperus albostriatus, Cyperus haspan, Cyperus longus, and Cyperus 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, and tubers of Cyperus rotundus are used in kampō. An unspecified Cyperus is mentioned as an abortifacient in the 11th-century poem De viribus herbarum.

Did You Know?

• The genus Cyperus contains about 700 species distributed across all continents in tropical and temperate regions.
• Cyperus papyrus subsp. hadidii, the 'true' papyrus sedge of Ancient Egypt, is very rare and found only at a few sites in the Wadi El Natrun region and northern Sudan.
• The chufa flatsedge (Cyperus esculentus) is grown commercially for its edible tubers, used to make horchata in the Valencia region.
• Fossil fruits of a Cyperus species have been described from middle Miocene strata in Denmark and Poland.