Cyperus zollingeriSteud.

Roadside Flatsedge

WFO wfo-0000385088 Accepted WFO 2026-06 5 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–e · 1 observation

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 1 time, 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 zollingeri, photographed by Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team
fig. a Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-03-07 / obs. 65609086
Cyperus zollingeri, photographed by Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team
fig. b Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 65609139
Cyperus zollingeri, photographed by Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team
fig. c Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 65609188
Cyperus zollingeri, photographed by Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team
fig. d Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 65609259
Cyperus zollingeri, photographed by Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team
fig. e Wilderness Safaris Botswana - Conservation Team, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 65609367

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 44 botanical countries

Regions where Cyperus zollingeri is native: Angola, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Senegal, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Andaman Is., Assam, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Caroline Is. AngolaBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoGabonGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMalawiMozambiqueNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSenegalSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoZambiaZimbabweAssamCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaVietnamNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern Australia Andaman Is.Caroline Is.
Native distribution of Cyperus zollingeri, 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
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Senegal SEN
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Vietnam VIE
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC

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 7 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 lucidulus C.B.Clarke
  • Cyperus ramosi Kük.
  • Cyperus ramosii Kük.
  • Cyperus rubroviridis Cherm.
  • Cyperus rubroviridis var. unicapitatus Kük.
  • Cyperus sphacelatus var. tenuior C.B.Clarke
  • Cyperus zollingeri var. robusta K.Schum.

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.