Cyperus sanguinolentus Vahl, Cyperaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Pycreus sanguinolentus (Vahl) Nees

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: hong lin bian suo

Habit:  sedge

Description:  "Annuals with fibrous roots or perennials with short rhizomes; culms tufted, forming small clumps 5-60 cm tall.  Leaves basal, shorter than to slightly longer than the culm, 0.5-2 mm wide, apex acute; sheaths brown.  Inflorescences umbelliform or occasionally contracted into a more or less lobed, head-like, umbelliform cluster, rays 2-5, 1-5 cm long, spikes densely bearing 4-20 spikelets; involucral bracts 3-4, unequal, the lower ones longer than the inflorescence; spikelets 10-24-flowered, oblong-elliptic, flattened, 6-15 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, obtuse, rachilla not winged; glumes dark purple to brownish black with broad pale margins, thick, membranous, ovate, 1.8-2 mm long, apex obtuse, the keel green, 3-nerved; stamens 2-3; stigmas 2.  Achenes dark brown, obovate to obovate-orbicular, lenticular, 1-1.3 mm long, contracted to a short-acuminate apex"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1427).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in wet sites, 910-920 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1427).  In China (native), "sparse forest margins, grasslands on mountain slopes, meadows, swamps, lake margins, sunny places at river margins or shallow water, valleys, wet places along trails, field margins, old fields; below 100-3400 m"  (Flora of China online).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Native to warm parts of the Old World" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1427).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1427, 1901) As Pycreus sanguinolentus Voucher cited: Degener 20251 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2008) (p. 5) "Wet, disturbed grass and sedge area". Voucher cited: S. Ching USArmy 55 (BISH)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Merrill, Elmer D. (1925) (p. 110) In open wet places at low and medium altitudes, ascending to 1,600 m.

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)	New South Wales	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) As Pycreus sanguinolentus (Vahl) Nees ex C. B. Clarke
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 318) As Pycreus sanguinolentus (Vahl) Nees. In paddy fields and grassland.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Healy, A. J./Edgar, E. (1980) (p. 190) "A weedy grassy plant of wet waste places, about lake and swamp margins, and in wet pastures".
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) As Pycreus sanguinolentus (Vahl) Nees ex C. B. Clarke
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex. 2008. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2007. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2007. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 100:3-12.

Healy, A. J./Edgar, E. 1980. Flora of New Zealand, Volume III: Adventive cyperaceous, petalous & spathaceous monocotyledons. Government Printer, Wellington, New Zealand. 220 pp.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1925. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 1 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 463 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).

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).