Yellow Nutsedge, Cyperus esculentus
Family: Cyperaceae; Sedge Family
Vegetative Characteristics:
Seedling: small, inconspicuous, rarely encountered
Stems: culm, 0.3-0.8 m tall, triangular, borne individually from tuber or basal bulb, as long as or shorter than basal leaves
Leaves: 3-ranked, mostly basal; blade green, linear, 5.0-6.0 mm wide, prominent midvein, flat or slightly corrugated, usually length of culm or longer with long-attenuated tip
Reproductive Characteristics:
Inflorescences: umbel-like, composed of several unequally stalked spikes subtended by unequal leaflike bracts usually as long as inflorescence; spikelets linear, yellowish brown or straw-colored, 1.0-3.0 cm long with several flowers, flattened, 2-ranked, stamens 3, style 3-cleft; scales subtending achene, yellowish with acute tip
Fruits: achene, 1.5 mm long, triangular, narrowing gradually from square-shouldered apex toward base, granular, brownish gray to brown, production and viability variable
Tubers: spherical, smooth, solitary, terminal from rhizomes, sweet to taste, buds positioned near apical end, can produce 10 or more rhizomes from tubers or basal bulbs
Special Identifying Characteristics:
⇒ erect, persistent, colonial perennial; inflorescence yellowish; leaves gradually tapering to sharp point; tubers not in chains, smooth
