Cyperus nigricansSteud.

WFO wfo-0000378294 Accepted WFO 2026-06 4 photographs CC0 / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–d · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 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 nigricans, photographed by Charles Stirton
fig. a Charles Stirton, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2009-11-09 / obs. 15121878
Cyperus nigricans, photographed by Jean-Paul Boerekamps
fig. b Jean-Paul Boerekamps, CC0 1.0 / obs. 107728169
Cyperus nigricans, photographed by Charles Stirton
fig. c Charles Stirton, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15121875
Cyperus nigricans, photographed by Charles Stirton
fig. d Charles Stirton, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15121877

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 21 botanical countries

Regions where Cyperus nigricans is native: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Provinces, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe AngolaBotswanaBurundiCape ProvincesDR CongoEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLesothoMadagascarMalawiMozambiqueNorthern ProvincesRwandaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabwe
Native distribution of Cyperus nigricans, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Botswana BOT
Burundi BUR
Cape Provinces CPP
DR Congo ZAI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Lesotho LES
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mozambique MOZ
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM

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.

Also published as 28 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 diloloensis (Kük. ex Cherm.) Kük.
  • Cyperus fibrillosus Kük.
  • Cyperus lanceus var. angustifolius Ridl.
  • Cyperus lanceus var. macrostachya Kunth
  • Cyperus lanceus var. mucronatus Kunth
  • Cyperus macranthus Boeckeler
  • Cyperus macranthus var. angustifolius (Ridl.) Kük.
  • Cyperus macranthus var. mucronatus (Kunth) Kük.
  • Cyperus muricatus Kük.
  • Cyperus nigricans var. firmior Kük.
  • Cyperus nigricans var. simulans (Cherm.) Kük.
  • Cyperus permutatus Boeckeler
  • Cyperus sumbawangensis (Hoenselaar) Lye
  • Pycreus diloloensis Kük. ex Cherm.
  • Pycreus fibrillosus (Kük.) Cherm.
  • Pycreus macranthus (Boeckeler) C.B.Clarke
  • Pycreus macranthus var. angustifolius (Ridl.) C.B.Clarke ex Rendle
  • Pycreus muricatus (Kük.) Napper
  • Pycreus nigrescens C.B.Clarke
  • Pycreus nigricans (Steud.) C.B.Clarke
  • Pycreus nigricans var. simulans (Cherm.) Cherm.
  • Pycreus nyasensis C.B.Clarke
  • Pycreus permutatus (Boeckeler) Napper
  • Pycreus segmentatus C.B.Clarke

and 4 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. 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.