Cyperus esculentus L.

vernacular yellow nutsedge — species · Cyperaceae

USDA: CYES
GBIF: 2716226
Rank: species

yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) — Platephotograph · Cin-Ty LeeCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Cyperaceae Juss.
Genus: Cyperus

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Introduced
HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Introduced
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 0 Both · 3 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Low
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 42 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 90 min.
Precipitation: 14–55 in/yr
pH range: 5–7
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 0.7 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Green
Fruit colour: Yellow
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Summer
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 3,489,173
Propagation: sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 B ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CYES ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2716226 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z