Cyperus rotundusL.

Nut-grassnutgrass

WFO wfo-0000381487 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Cyperus rotundus, photographed by natalie
fig. a natalie, CC0 1.0 / 2022-04-23 / obs. 190519639

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 151 botanical countries

Regions where Cyperus rotundus is native: Aldabra, Algeria, Angola, Azores, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Mozambique Channel Is., Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Réunion, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Selvagens, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Somalia, St.Helena, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Gulf States, Hainan, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kazan-retto, Kirgizstan, Korea, Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Ogasawara-shoto, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Philippines, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Bulgaria, Corse, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Caroline Is., Hawaii, Marianas, Marshall Is., Vanuatu, Wake I., Turks-Caicos Is. AlgeriaAngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadCongoDjiboutiDR CongoEgyptEquatorial GuineaEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLesothoLibyaMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSelvagensSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoTunisiaUgandaWestern SaharaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastCyprusEast Aegean Is.Gulf StatesHainanIranIraqJapanKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaManchuriaNorth CaucasusOmanPalestineSaudi ArabiaSinaiTadzhikistanTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanYemenAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaAlbaniaAustriaBulgariaCorseFranceGreeceItalyKritiNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalRomaniaSiciliaSpainSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeHawaii AldabraAzoresCanary Is.Cape VerdeChagos ArchipelagoComorosMadeiraMauritiusMozambique Channel Is.RéunionRodriguesSeychellesSt.HelenaKoreaNansei-shotoAndaman Is.Nicobar Is.South China SeaBalearesSardegnaCaroline Is.MarianasMarshall Is.VanuatuWake I.Turks-Caicos Is.
Native distribution of Cyperus rotundus, 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
Aldabra ALD AFRICA
Algeria ALG
Angola ANG
Azores AZO
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Cape Verde CVI
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Chagos Archipelago CGS
Comoros COM
Congo CON
Djibouti DJI
DR Congo ZAI
Egypt EGY
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Lesotho LES
Libya LBY
Madagascar MDG
Madeira MDR
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mauritius MAU
Morocco MOR
Mozambique MOZ
Mozambique Channel Is. MCI
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Réunion REU
Rodrigues ROD
Rwanda RWA
Selvagens SEL
Senegal SEN
Seychelles SEY
Sierra Leone SIE
Socotra SOC
Somalia SOM
St.Helena STH
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Tunisia TUN
Uganda UGA
Western Sahara WSA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Gulf States GST
Hainan CHH
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kazan-retto KZN
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Tadzhikistan TZK
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
Yemen YEM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Nicobar Is. NCB
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
South China Sea SCS
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Bulgaria BUL
Corse COR
France FRA
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Hawaii HAW
Marianas MRN
Marshall Is. MRS
Vanuatu VAN
Wake I. WAK
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Western Australia WAU
Turks-Caicos Is. TCI SOUTHERN AMERICA

Not drawn on the map: Socotra, Kazan-retto, Ogasawara-shoto. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

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.

Flowering 206 in flower of 253 examined

Proportion of examined Cyperus rotundus in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 4 8 50% 22% to 78%
Feb 6 8 75% 41% to 93%
Mar 12 15 80% 55% to 93%
Apr 23 28 82% 64% to 92%
May 20 21 95% 77% to 99%
Jun 18 23 78% 58% to 90%
Jul 14 19 74% 51% to 88%
Aug 25 31 81% 64% to 91%
Sep 35 45 78% 64% to 87%
Oct 27 31 87% 71% to 95%
Nov 14 16 88% 64% to 97%
Dec 8 8 100% 68% to 100%

Peak flowering in Dec. Each bar is the share of Cyperus rotundus observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 206 of 253 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 77 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.

  • Chlorocyperus rotundus (L.) Palla
  • Cyperus agrestis Willd. ex Spreng. & Link
  • Cyperus badius var. inconspicuus (Nyman) Nyman
  • Cyperus bicolor Vahl
  • Cyperus bulbosostoloniferus Miq.
  • Cyperus comosus Sm.
  • Cyperus elongatus Sieber ex Kunth
  • Cyperus herbicavus Melliss
  • Cyperus hexastachyos Rottb.
  • Cyperus hildra Poir.
  • Cyperus hydra Michx.
  • Cyperus inconspicuus Gennari
  • Cyperus laevissimus Steud.
  • Cyperus leptostachyus Griff.
  • Cyperus longus Boeckeler
  • Cyperus merkeri C.B.Clarke
  • Cyperus micreilema Steud.
  • Cyperus nubicus C.B.Clarke
  • Cyperus ochreoides Steud.
  • Cyperus officinalis Nees ex Godr.
  • Cyperus oliganthus Gand.
  • Cyperus olivaris O.Targ.Tozz.
  • Cyperus olivaris var. brevibracteatus Le Grand
  • Cyperus pallescens Poir.

and 53 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.