NameThatPlant.net: Cyperus hortensis

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cyperus hortensis FAMILY Cyperaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Female scales (and thus head color) are green (vs. white in C. sesquiflorus). Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

Frequently confused with C. brevifolius, which occurs in similar habitats. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2022)

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Kyllinga pumila FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 030-01-002:

Cyperus tenuifolius FAMILY Cyperaceae

COMMON NAME:
Annual Greenhead Sedge, Low Spikesedge

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cyperus hortensis FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Kyllinga pumila FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 030-01-002:
Cyperus tenuifolius FAMILY Cyperaceae

3532

Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Annual

Habitat: Moist soils of fields, ditches, lawns, shores of ponds and rivers, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple
Basal

RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Cespitose [growing in dense tufts, clumping], not rhizomatous

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Heads green
Bracts usually 3, to 15cm long
Superior ovary
Bisexual

Inflorescences unbranched (the spikes sessile)

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Nutlets yellowish
Spikelet with one nutlet enclosed by two scales

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".

Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".