Yellow nutsedge
June 16, 2015
Cyperus esculentus L. Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Life cycle
Rhizomatous perennial sedge.
Leaves
Yellowish green, shiny, grass-like leaves are long and narrow to a sharp point with distinct ridging along the midvein. Leaves are mostly basal and alternate, pointing outward from the stem in three directions.
Stems
Erect, solid, up to 3-foot-tall stems are triangular in cross-section. Plants spread by wiry, scaly rhizomes and nutlike tubers produced at the rhizome tips.
Flowers and fruit
The seedhead consists of numerous yellowish brown spikelets, which occur in a terminal, umbrella-like cluster. Under each seedhead is a whorl of several long, leaf-like bracts. The seed is enclosed in a single-seeded, three-angled, yellowish brown fruit with a blunt end.
Reproduction
Tubers, rhizomes and, very rarely, seeds.
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