Scientific Name
Cyperus rotundus L.
Synonyms
Chlorocyperus rotundus (L.) Palla, Chlorocyperus salaamensis Palla, Cyperus agrestis Willd. ex Spreng. & Link, Cyperus arabicus Ehrenb. ex Boeckeler, Cyperus bicolor Vahl, Cyperus bifax C.B.Clarke, Cyperus bulbosostoloniferus Miq., Cyperus comosus Sm., Cyperus disruptus C.B.Clarke, Cyperus elongatus Sieber ex Kunth [Illegitimate], Cyperus herbicavus Melliss, Cyperus hexastachyos Rottb., Cyperus hildra Poir., Cyperus hydra Michx., Cyperus inconspicuus Gennari [Illegitimate], Cyperus laevissimus Steud., Cyperus leptostachyus Griff., Cyperus longus Boeckeler [Illegitimate], Cyperus merkeri C.B.Clarke, Cyperus micreilema Steud., Cyperus nubicus C.B.Clarke, Cyperus ochreoides Steud., Cyperus officinalis Nees ex Godr. [Invalid], Cyperus oliganthus Gand., Cyperus olivaris O.Targ.Tozz., Cyperus pallescens Poir. [Illegitimate], Cyperus pallescens Boiss. [Illegitimate], Cyperus patulus M.Bieb. [Illegitimate], Cyperus platystachys Cherm., Cyperus procerulus Nees, Cyperus proteinolepis Boeckeler [Illegitimate], Cyperus pseudovariegatus Boeckeler, Cyperus purpureovariegatus Boeckeler, Cyperus radicosus Sm., Cyperus retzii Nees [Illegitimate], Cyperus rubicundus Willd. ex Link [Illegitimate], Cyperus rudioi Boeckeler, Cyperus taylorii C.B.Clarke, Cyperus tenuifolius Walp. [Spelling variant], Cyperus tetrastachyos Desf., Cyperus tuberosus Rottb., Cyperus viridis Roxb. ex C.B.Clarke [Invalid], Cyperus weinlandii Kük., Cyperus yoshinagae Ohwi, Pycreus rotundus (L.) Hayek, Schoenus tuberosus Burm.f. [1]
Vernacular Name
| Malaysia | Teki, rumput haliya hitan [2] |
| English | Purple nut grass, purple nut sedge [2] |
| Indonesia | Teki (General); mota (Madura); karelawai (Sumba) [2] |
| Thailand | Yaa haeo muu, yaa khon muu (General) [2] |
| Laos | Hèwz hmu [2] |
| Myanmar | Monhnyin-bin [2] |
| Philippines | Mutha (Tagalog); ahos-ahos (Bisaya); boto-botones (Bikol) [2] |
| Cambodia | Krâva:nh chru:k [2] |
| Vietnam | C[ur] g[aas]u, h[uw] [ow]ng ph[uj] [2] |
| France | Souchet rond [2] |
Geographical Distributions
Cyperus rotundus is thought to originate from Africa. Now it is widely distributed throughout the warmer parts of the world and it is very common all over South-East Asia. [2] C. rotundus occurs up to 1000 m altitude in open grasslands, roadsides and waste places. It is often a serious pest in cultivated land, e.g. in lowland rice, maize, sugar cane and vegetables. [2]
Botanical Description
C. rotundus comes from the family of Cyperaceae. 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. [2]
The stem is slender, 15-30(-75) cm long. [2]
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. [2]
The fruit is three-angled, oblong-reverse egg-shaped, brown to black, rarely maturing. [2]
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. [2]
Cultivation
No documentation
Chemical Constituent
No documentation
Plant Part Used
No documentation
Traditional Use
No documentation
Preclinical Data
No documentation
Clinical Data
No documentation
Poisonous Management
No documentation
Line Drawing
References
- The Plant List. Ver1.1. Cyperus rotundus L.[homepage on the Internet]. c2013 [updated 2012 Mar 23; cited 2015 May 07]. Available from: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-238342
- Nguyen Khac Khoi. Cyperus rotundus L. In: de Padua LS, Bunyapraphatsara N, Lemmens RHMJ, editors. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1. Leiden, Netherlands: Backhuys Publisher, 1999; p. 228-229.
