Cyperus rotundus
Family
Cyperaceae
Synonyms
None
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Teki, rumput haliya hitan. |
| English | Purple nut grass, purple nut sedge. |
| Indonesia | Teki (General), mota (Madura), karelawai (Sumba). |
| Philippines | Mutha (Tagalog), ahos-ahos (Bisaya), boto-botones (Bikol). |
| Burma(Myanmar) | Monhnyin-bin. |
| Cambodia | Krâva:nh chru:k. |
| Laos | Hèwz hmu:. |
| Thailand | Yaa haeo muu, yaa khon muu (General). |
| Vietnam | C[ur] g[aas]u, h[uw] [ow]ng ph[uj]. |
| French | Souchet rond. |
Geographical Distributions
C. rotundus is thought to originate from Africa. Now it is widely distributed throughout the warmer parts of the world and it is very common allover South-East Asia
Description
This perennial herb has long, slender, stout, wiry, dark brown rhizomes giving rise at intervals of 5-25 cm to tubers and forming tuber chains. The tubers are slightly spherical or ellipsoid 0.5-2.5 cm long. It is white and succulent when young and turning into brown-blackish fibres in maturity. The stem is slender, 15-30(-75) cm long.
The leaves are 2-6 mm wide, flatted, rough to touch on the margins in the upper part. The inflorescence is simple or compound. The ring of bracts are 2-4(-6) and up to 30 cm long. It has 3-9 primary rays, very unequal, up to 10 cm long. A secondary simple indeterminate inflorescence is arranged with 10-40(-100) flowers. It has 3 stamens and stigmas.
The fruit is three-angled, oblong-reverse egg-shaped, brown to black, rarely maturing. Two subspecies are distinguished: subsp. rotundus and subsp. retzii (Nees) Ktik. Subsp. retzii (synonym: C. retzii Nees) differs from subsp. rotundus by its stouter habit (stem 50-75 cm tall), the somewhat broader secondary simple indeterminate inflorescence (about 2.5 mm wide when ripe) and the paler elliptical-oblong chaffy, two-ranked members of the inflorescence, 3.5-4 mm long. It appears in moist localities, sometimes as a weed.
Ecology / Cultivation
C. rotundus occurs up to 1000 m altitude in open grasslands, roadsides and waste places, and is often a serious pest in cultivated land, e.g. in lowland rice, maize, sugar cane and vegetables
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1.
