Cyperus gracilis R.Br., Cyperaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: McCoy grass, slender sedge, whisker grass

Hawaiian: mau‘u hunehune

Habit:  sedge

Description:  "Perennials, rhizomes short, covered with brown fibers; culms slender, 10-35 cm tall, 0.2-0.5 mm in diameter, somewhat thickened at base.  Leaves 2-3 per culm, blades linear-filiform, 1/3-1/2 as long as the culm, 0.5-1 mm wide, channeled, apex long-acuminate; sheaths brown.  Inflorescence a digitate head of 2-6 spikelets; involucral bracts 2-3, filiform, 3-10 cm long, reflexed; spikelets 8-24-flowred, pale green, linear-oblong, flattened, 5-12 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, subacute, rachilla not winged; glumes closely spaced, broadly ovate, 2-2.3 mm long, 1.8-2 mm wide, margins hyaline, pale green and sometimes tinged yellowish brown, finely 3-7-nerved, apex acute, the keel green, prominent, ending in a short recurved mucro; style filiform; stigmas 3.  Achenes brownish black at maturity, obdeltoid-obovoid, ca. 1 mm long, trigonous, apex subtruncate, apiculate, base stipitate"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1396).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "cultivated as a ground cover in shaded sites and sparingly naturalized, 0-170 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1396).  "Uncommon in disturbed places" (Whistler, 1988; p. 41).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia and New Caledonia in wet, partially shaded areas (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1396).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 11) "Rare. Probably a recent introduction". Vouchers cited: W.R. Sykes NI 468(CHR), K.L. Wilson 6261 (K, NSW)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 27) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 010801-12 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim (2011) (p. 25) Voucher cited: Starr, Starr & Higashino 080209-01 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1396-1397)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. (2002) (p. 7) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H109912 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1396-1397)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Hughes, Guy D'Oyly (1995) (p. 3) Voucher cited: Hughes 13 (US) Common in lawns, along roadsides, and in disturbed areas.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1396-1397)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	native	Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 90)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	native	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 144) Vouchers cited: MacKee 26176, MacKee 43724
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced	Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 41)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 41)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Cyperus gracilis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Cyperus gracilis as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Cyperus gracilis may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Hughes, Guy D'Oyly. 1995. New Hawaiian plant records II. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:1-10.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. 2002. New plant records from the main Hawaiian Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:1-14.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim. 2011. New plant records from midway Atoll, Maui and Kaho‘olawe. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2009-2010. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 110:23-35.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2003. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:23-34.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.