Cyperus alternifolius

Cyperus alternifolius ( purple nutsedge )

The alternifolius Cyperus is a plant from the family of Sedges ( Cyperaceae ). The species is a popular house plant that is usually referred to by the generic name as " nutsedge " or " Cyprus grass ".

Features

Cyperus alternifolius is a perennial, grass -like plant that reaches a height of about 50 to 150 cm. The rhizome is creeping, relatively short and reached a diameter of two to ten centimeters. The sprouting of new stems is always from the new nodes present on the young end of the rhizome, giving the plant slowly "wanders". In older plants, the rhizome branches out, then being cast out at each branch tip new blades. The blades are blunt triangular and smooth or slightly rough with a diameter of 1.5 to 7 mm. At the base they are surrounded by up to 30 cm long, leathery leaf sheaths, which are reddish to blackish - brown at the bottom and at the top yellowish to gray and end up wrong. The leaf blades are reduced. The inflorescences are 15-25, arranged spirally, surrounded green bracts. These are flat, pointed, with slightly recurved leaf margins and reach a length of 10 to 35 cm in length and a width of 3 to 20 mm. Your edge and their venation is straight or slightly rough. Occasionally form at the leaf approaches new shoots, which in turn support an inflorescence with bracts. These inflorescences are considerably smaller, the stem length is usually at 5 ... 20 cm.

The inflorescences are composed Spirren 3-25 cm in diameter. Their main axes up to 10 cm long, smooth or slightly rough and carry 10 to 30 mm long secondary Spirren with about 5 mm long bracts and 15 to 30 spirally arranged brownish spikelets. The blossoms have three stamens and three stigmas. The fruits are about one millimeter wide, brown nut fruit.

Occurrence

Cyperus alternifolius grows in marshland and waters edges. The type subspecies C. a alternifolius occurs on Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. The subspecies C. a flabelliformis occurs in Africa from Sudan to South Africa, Madagascar, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan and India. In some areas, the species is also wild. The plant is not frost resistant.