Cyperus lanceolatusPoir.

epiphytic flatsedge

WFO wfo-0000376399 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. a Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-09 / obs. 142125822
Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. b Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 142486656
Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Tyler Bishop
fig. c Tyler Bishop, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 43438057
Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. d Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 142125850
Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. e Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 142486671
Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. f Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 142486668
Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Jay Horn
fig. g Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 157045826
Cyperus lanceolatus, photographed by Jay Horn
fig. h Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 157045845

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 62 botanical countries

Regions where Cyperus lanceolatus is native: Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Uruguay AngolaBeninBurkinaCameroonCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliNigerNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweAlabamaFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestTexasArgentina NortheastBelizeBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayUruguay Mauritius
Native distribution of Cyperus lanceolatus, 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
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritius MAU
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Uruguay URU
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Texas TEX

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 37 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 5.3 °C 7.5 °C 16.8 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 29.5 °C 31.5 °C 32.5 °C
Annual rainfall 1,328 mm 1,585 mm 1,858 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 134 mm 271 mm 374 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 37 research-grade observations of Cyperus lanceolatus 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 33 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 ambiguus Liebm.
  • Cyperus correctus Steud.
  • Cyperus densus Link
  • Cyperus elliottianus Schult.
  • Cyperus fasciculatus Elliott
  • Cyperus filiculmis A.Rich.
  • Cyperus flavus J.Presl & C.Presl
  • Cyperus helvus Liebm.
  • Cyperus humboldtianus Schult.
  • Cyperus jacquemontii Boeckeler
  • Cyperus lanceolatus var. compositus J.Presl & C.Presl
  • Cyperus lanceolatus var. helvus Kük.
  • Cyperus lanceolatus var. subunioloides Kük.
  • Cyperus lepidus Phil.
  • Cyperus maximiliani Schrad. ex Nees
  • Cyperus olfersianus Kunth
  • Cyperus olfersianus var. elatior Boeckeler
  • Cyperus olfersianus var. maximiliani (Nees) Boeckeler
  • Cyperus pycnocephalus Steud.
  • Cyperus setaceus Raddi
  • Cyperus variegatus Griseb.
  • Mariscus setaceus Raddi
  • Pycreus densus (Link) C.B.Clarke
  • Pycreus elliotianus Nees

and 9 more.

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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. 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.