Cyperus exaltatusRetz.

WFO wfo-0000373077 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by Richard Fuller
fig. a Richard Fuller, CC0 1.0 / 2022-02-05 / obs. 178295300
Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by Kym Nicolson
fig. b Kym Nicolson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 116371008
Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. c Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 105126496
Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. d Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 57486875
Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. e Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 108793258
Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by James Ray
fig. f James Ray, CC0 1.0 / obs. 106489044
Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. g Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 105975375
Cyperus exaltatus, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. h Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 71110926

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 48 botanical countries

Regions where Cyperus exaltatus is native: Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Argentina Northeast AngolaBeninBurkinaCameroonChadEthiopiaGhanaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaMaliMozambiqueNigeriaSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZimbabweChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanTaiwanAssamBangladeshIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanSri LankaThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandSouth AustraliaVictoriaArgentina Northeast SeychellesKorea
Native distribution of Cyperus exaltatus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Chad CHA
Ethiopia ETH
Ghana GHA
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Senegal SEN
Seychelles SEY
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Pakistan PAK
Sri Lanka SRL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Taiwan TAI
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Victoria VIC
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 211 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 4.8 °C 9.7 °C 12.8 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 26.2 °C 28.5 °C 33.5 °C
Annual rainfall 462 mm 1,096 mm 1,716 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 69 mm 122 mm 210 mm

It is barely found anywhere that freezes. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 211 research-grade observations of Cyperus exaltatus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 16 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cyperus alopecuroides J.Koenig ex Roxb.
  • Cyperus altus Nees
  • Cyperus canaliculatus Retz.
  • Cyperus exaltatus var. amoenus C.B.Clarke
  • Cyperus exaltatus var. divergens Kük.
  • Cyperus exaltatus var. iwasakii (Makino) T.Koyama
  • Cyperus exaltatus var. minor J.M.Black
  • Cyperus exaltatus var. serpens Kük.
  • Cyperus festivus Link
  • Cyperus iwasakii Makino
  • Cyperus odoratus Burm.f.
  • Cyperus oryzeticola Steud.
  • Cyperus racemosus B.Heyne ex Boeckeler
  • Cyperus tokiensis C.B.Clarke
  • Cyperus venustus R.Br.
  • Papyrus venustus (R.Br.) Nees

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.