Skip to main content

Umbrella papyrus (Cyperus alternifolius)

Dlium Umbrella papyrus (Cyperus alternifolius)

Umbrella grass (Cyperus alternifolius) is a plant species in Cyperaceae, like a very large grass, umbrella-shaped canopy, grows in dry soil and waterlogged, often cultivated as an ornamental plant throughout the world.

C. alternifolius grows to form clumps, has a height of 1-2 m and the top part is composed of protective leaves that shade the flower arrangements. The stem is hollow, unbranched, long, tubular with many linear angles, dark green, hard and sturdy but flexible.





The leaves are arranged radially, stacked and each stem has 10-25 strands. A large bone and several veins are parallel to a length of 15-40 cm and a width of 1.3 cm, a jagged edge, a pointed tip, a rough surface and green.

Spikelet flowers, forming clusters, have long and green stems, crowns shaped in coarse grains, sit on the ends of the stems, greenish brown and come out of the axil bractea or the sides of the bractea.

This species grows well in swamps, along the shores of lakes and rivers, elevations up to 2500 meters, rainfall 100-4200 mm/year, temperature 20-30C, soil pH 6.0-8.5, full sun but shade tolerant partial, fertile and wet soil or a puddle of 30 cm.

Plants contain the alkaloids tyramine, octopamine, essential oils (caryophyllene oxide, cyperene, 1,8-cineole, humulene epoxide II, aristolene, and aromadendrene epoxide II). The root is used as an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial.

Often used to treat certain eye diseases, prevent malignant ulcers from spreading in the mouth or elsewhere, heal wounds, cure cancer, care for pregnant women, treat edema, female infertility, coughs, act as an antioxidant and conditioner for the skin.

This plant is also used as a source material for making paper, woven cloth, binding ropes, webbing, brooms, mattresses, pillows, fences and roofs. The pith is consumed as food, while the starchy rhizomes and lower stem pieces can be consumed raw, boiled or roasted.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Cyperaceae
Subfamily: Cyperoideae
Tribe: Cypereae
Genus: Cyperus L. in Sp. Pl.: 44 (1753)
Species: Cyperus alternifolius L. in Mant. Pl. 1: 28 (1767)
Subspecies: Cyperus alternifolius subsp. alternifolius, Cyperus alternifolius subsp. flabelliformis Kük., Cyperus alternifolius subsp. textilis (Thunb.) Verloove

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Cyperus frondosus Salisb. in Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 30 (1796)
Eucyperus alternifolius (L.) Rikli in Jahrb. Wiss. Bot. 27: 568 (1895)

PUBLICATIONS

Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.

Boulos, L. (2005). Flora of Egypt 4: 1-617. Al Hadara Publishing, Cairo. Brundu, G. & Camarda, I. (2013). The Flora of Chad: a checklist and brief analysis. PhytoKeys 23: 1-18.

Buragohain, S. & Sarma, G.C. (2009). The exotic weeds of Guwahati, Assam and their role in employment generation. Pleione 3(1): 45-49.

Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].

Govaerts, R. & Simpson, D.A. (2007). World Checklist of Cyperaceae. Sedges: 1-765. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.

Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.

Kuo, M.L. (ed.) (2012). Flora of Taiwan, ed. 2, Suppl.: 1-414. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Second Edition, National Taiwan University.

MacKee, H.S. (1994). Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie, ed. 2: 1-164. Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.

Schäfer, H. (2021). Flora of the Azores a field guide: 1-445. Margraf Publishers GmbH.

Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.

Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mt. Mulanje, Malawi. Scripta Botanica Belgica 34: 1-199.

Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2010). Flora of China 23: 1-515. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

VERNACULAR NAME

Austria: Zypergras, Zyperngras
Catalan: Paraigüets
Chinese (simplified): 野生风车草
Chinese (traditional): 光稈輪傘莎草 - 旱傘竹
Czech: šáchor střídavolistý
Danish: Nilgræs
Dutch: Kattengras
English: Umbrella Papyrus, Umbrella flat sedge, Umbrella palm
French: Souchet à feuilles alternes
German: Zypergras, Zyperngras
Guangdong: 旱傘竹 - 光稈輪傘莎草
Hebrew: גומא מניפני (תרבותי)
Hong Kong: 旱傘竹 - 光稈輪傘莎草
Indonesia: Rumput payung, Papirus, Rumput Payung, Siprus, Bintang Air
Italian: Falso papiro, Cipero ornamentale
Japanese: シュロガヤツリ - 広義
Java: Payung Mutho
Macao: 旱傘竹 - 光稈輪傘莎草
Nepali: छाता मोथे
Polish: Cibora Zmienna
Portuguese: Papiro-sombrinha
Russian: Сыть очерёднолистная - Сыть очереднолистная
Slovak: šachor striedavolistý
Spanish: Paragüitas de Madagascar
Swedish: Parasollsäv
Taiwan: 旱傘竹 - 光稈輪傘莎草
Thai: กกรังกา
Turkish: Japon Şemsiyesi

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Awar awar (Ficus septica)

Awar-awar or lagnob or hauli tree or barabar or sirih popar or tobo tobo ( Ficus septica ) is species of plants in Moraceae, trees grow in bushes or in neglected places and sap contained in roots, twigs, leaves and fruit is used to treat poisoning and digestive problems. F. septica is usually 1-5 m high, although in the forest it can be up to 25 m. Round, hollow and bare branches. Roots, twigs, leaves and fruit will emit a yellow sap and sticky if injured. The base of the leaves is large and spiky, arranged alternately or face to face with a stem length of 2.5-5 cm. Large leaf blade, round egg, 9-30x9-16 cm, rounded base and blunt narrow tip, flat-edged, upper side dark green with 6-12 secondary bones pale white. Fruit paired, single or clustered up to 4 items, short-stemmed, at the base has 3 protective leaves, light green or gray green and 1.5 cm in diameter. F. septica is food for 22 animal species including wasps, bats, birds, monkeys and mice as well as seed dispersing vecto...
Post a Comment
Read more