| Section 5 » Family Cyperaceae |
Show/Hide Synonym
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| Cyperus brevifolius | = | Kyllinga brevifolia | Flora of North America (1993b, 1997, 2000, 2002a, 2002b, 2003a, 2004b, 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c, 2007a, 2009, 2010) | | | Cyperus brevifolius | = | Kyllinga brevifolia | Kartesz (1999) | | | Cyperus brevifolius | = | Kyllinga brevifolia | Small (1933, 1938) | | | Cyperus brevifolius | = | Kyllinga brevifolia | Wunderlin & Hansen Flora of Florida (3) | | | Cyperus brevifolius | = | Kyllinga brevifolia | Goetghebeur & Van den Borre (1989)=V. | | | Cyperus brevifolius | = | Kyllinga brevifolia | Goetghebeur & Van den Borre (1989)=V. | | | Cyperus brevifolius | < | Cyperus brevifolius | Fernald (1950) | | | Cyperus brevifolius | < | Cyperus brevifolius | Gleason (1952) | | | Source: Weakley's Flora |
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| Author | (Rottboell) Endlicher & Hasskarl | |
| Distribution | Low Mountains, and a few scattered records in the Piedmont, Sandhills, and outer Coastal Plain. A specimen from Jackson County has no data nor image at WCUH; it needs careful ID. This species is no doubt overlooked and under-collected. Also often misidentified as C. brevifolioides. Specimens at NCU were annotated again in November 2021.
Southern VA to OK, south to FL and TX; CA. | |
| Abundance | Rare to locally uncommon in the Mountains; very rare elsewhere. The website editors suggest a State Rank of S1S2 and a Watch List status. | |
| Habitat | Lawns, pastures, alluvium of river (French Broad in Madison County), margin of lake (Lake Tomahawk in Buncombe County). Generally in disturbed damp ground. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-September. | |
| Identification | Plants always less than 1 foot tall, and often less than 6 inches, connected via horizontal rhizomes. The inflorescence is a dense head, which is pale green. Achenes (seeds) are < 1.4 mm long. C. brevifolioides -- apparently not native in the U.S., also has long rhizomes, but its longest floral bract sticks out horizontally or is generally reflexed (vs. erect); its achenes are usually >1.6 mm long. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | A synonym is Kyllinga brevifolia. FNA uses this name, spiltting Kyllinga from Cyperus.
The genus Cyperus is mostly tropical and warm-temperate in distribution; thus, in NC it is much commoner in the Coastal Plain than in the Mountains and Piedmont. Most species have 1-few flowering stems (culms) from grasslike basal leaves, plus a few stem leaves. At the summit is an inflorescence of very open and branched, or tightly packed, spikes, varying among species from brown to golden brown to straw-color to reddish. The arrangement of the spikelets is important, whether like a hand (digitate) or in paired or alternate rows (pinnate); as is the shape of the achene (seed), whether bi-convex in cross-section or triangular. As a group, Cyperus tends to be weedy and readily enters disturbed ground; this is true for many natives as well as all the aliens. In recent years, following DNA research, the genus has incorporated several genera that in RAB (1968) or other manuals were separate: Hemicarpha, Lipocarpha, and Kyllinga. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Shortleaf Spikesedge | |
| State Rank | S1 [S1S2] | |
| Global Rank | GNR | |
| State Status | [W7] | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
