Cyperus ligularis L., Cyperaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Caribbean sedge, rocket sedge, swamp flatsedge

Habit:  sedge

Description:  "Robust plants, rhizomes short, clump-forming, culms to 100 cm tall; leaves 5-12 mm wide; bracteal leaves elongate; inflorescence of several short branches bearing very dense, short subcylindric spikes; spikelets 4-6 mm long, dark reddish-brown, the glumes obtuse; achene obovate, sharply trigonal, 1.5 mm long, slightly papillose, dark brown" (Stone, 1970; pp. 169-170).

Habitat/ecology:  "In wet sand of seashore and wet open grassland near the coast" (Wiggins & Porter, 1971p. 806).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Tropical America and Africa, including Madagascar (Stone, 1970; pp. 169-170).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 67) Presence not verified.
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Yap (Waqab) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 67)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (pp. 169-170) Voucher cited: Stone 4053 (GUAM)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 67)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1994) (voucher ID: PTBG 22349) Taxon name on voucher: Cyperus ligularis L.
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 37) Potentially invasive.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 116)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 116)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island		Stoddart, D. R./Taylor, J. D., eds. (1971) (p. 146) Vouchers cited: Stoddart 785 (K, US), Stoddart 878 (K, US), Rhyne 661 (US)
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. Arthur (1996) (p. 23)
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1995) (voucher ID: PTBG 44850) Taxon name on voucher: Cyperus ligularis
Maldives Maldive Islands	Addu Atoll		Spicer, R. A./Newberry, D. MacC. (1979) (p. 14)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Agalega Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. (1983) (p. 120) Vouchers cited: Wiehe 1605 (MAU), Stoddart 7248 (US)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Alphonse Island		Robertson, I. A. D./Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 180) Voucher cited: Robertson 2878 (K)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Coetivy Island		Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 148) Voucher cited: Robertson 3055 (K)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Cousin Island	native	Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 22) Voucher cited: Fosberg 52119 (US)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	D'Arros Island		Stoddart, D. R./Coe, M. J./Fosberg, F. R. (1979) (p. 20) Vouchers cited: Gwynne & Wood 960 (EA), Stoddart 7191 (US)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Desnoeufs Island		Wilson, J. R. (1983) (p. 208)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Frégate Island		Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. (1983) (p. 49) Voucher cited: Procter 4175
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Marie-Louise Island		Wilson, J. R. (1983) (p. 191)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Platte Island		Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 160) Voucher cited: Robertson 3041 (K)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Poivre Island		Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 170) Voucher cited: Robertson 2340 (K)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	St. Joseph Island		Stoddart, D. R./Coe, M. J./Fosberg, F. R. (1979) (p. 44) Voucher cited: Stoddart 7141 (US)

Comments:  Extensively naturalizing on Majuro, Marshall Islands (Nancy Vander Velde, pers. com.).

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

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

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

References:

Fosberg, F. R. 1983. Natural history of Cousin Island. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. 1983. List of the recorded vascular flora of Agalega. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1994. Voucher specimen #PTBG22349(K. R. Wood 3352).

Robertson, I. A. D./Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. 1983. List of plants collected on Alphonse Island, Amirantes. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. 1983. List of plants collected on Coetivy Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. 1983. List of plants collected on Platte Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. 1983. List of plants of Poivre Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. 1983. Vegetation of Frégate Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Spicer, R. A./Newberry, D. MacC. 1979. The terrestrial vegetation of an Indian Ocean coral islands: Wilingili, Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands. I. Transect analysis of the vegetation. II. A limited quantitative analysis of the vegetation distribution. Atoll Research Bulletin 231. The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 25 pp.

Stoddart, D. R./Coe, M. J./Fosberg, F. R. 1979. D'Arros and St. Joseph, Amirante Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 223. The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 48 pp.

Stoddart, D. R./Taylor, J. D., eds. 1971. Geography and ecology of Diego Garcia Atoll, Chagos Archipelago. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 149. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 237 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Whistler, W. Arthur. 1996. Botanical survey of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. Isle Botanica. 49 pp.

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.

Wilson, J. R. 1983. Ecology of Marie-Louise, Amirantes Islands. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Wilson, J. R. 1983. Ecology of Desnoeufs, Amirantes Islands. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.