Cyperus elegans Linnaeus. Common name: Royal Flatsedge, Sticky Flatsedge. Phenology: Jul-Nov. Habitat: Ditches, wet open areas, coastal rock barrens. Distribution: FL, AL, MS, TX, and NM, south to South America; West Indies.
ID notes: The combination of involute leaves, viscid surfaces, and excurrent-mucronate scale apices is sufficient to distinguish C. elegans from all other Cyperus except C. oxylepis. In the field, the dark, broadly obovoid achenes of C. elegans are conspicuous, visible through the pale olivaceous scales as circular blackish spots.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Bah, ETx1, FNA23, K4, Mex, NcTx, NS, WH3; > Cyperus elegans ssp. elegans — POWO; > Cyperus elegans L. var. elegans — Tx. Basionym: Cyperus elegans L. 1753
Links to other floras: = Cyperus elegans - FNA23
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Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
- Great Plains: FACW
Heliophily ⓘ: 9
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© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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