Kyllinga squamulata Vahl

Asian spikesedge (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Cyperaceae > Kyllinga

Characteristics

Annuals. Roots fibrous. Culms densely tufted, 2-20 cm tall, slender, compressed triquetrous, smooth, base not swollen. Leaves equaling or slightly shorter than culm; sheath brownish purple, basal 1 or 2 bladeless; leaf blade 2-3 mm wide, flaccid. Involucral bracts 3 or 4, leaflike, much longer than inflorescence, spreading to downward reflexed, base usually broadening. Spike 1(-3), subglobose, 6-9 mm in diam., with many spikelets. Spikelets densely congested, broadly ovoid, 2.5-3 × 1.5-2 mm, compressed, 1-flowered. Glumes pale to straw-colored and sometimes rusty brown maculate, boat-shaped, 2.5-3 mm, keel green, winged, with 6-10 slightly broad teeth shaped like a cockscomb on apical ca. 2/3 of margin, and 1-3 spinelike trichomes at apex of teeth, apex with a strict mucro. Stamens 1 or 2; anthers oblong. Style of medium length; stigmas 2. Nutlet at first yellow but dark brown when mature, ellipsoid, ca. 2/3 as long as subtending glume, compressed, with dense punctate processes. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 14.
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Plants annual, cespitose, not rhizomatous. Culms 5–35 cm, smooth. Leaves flat, 5–30 cm × 1.5–2 mm. Inflorescences: spike 1, subglobose, 6–10 mm diam.; bracts 3–4, horizontal to slightly reflexed, flat, 1–6 cm × 1–2 mm. Spikelets 50–70(–100), stipitate, ovate, 2.5–4 × 2–3 mm; floral scales dull greenish white to stramineous, midvein with laciniate keel ± as long as scale, 1 mm wide, laterally 2-veined, ovate, 2.2–3.8 × 2 mm, acuminate; stamens (1–)2; anthers 2 mm; style 1 mm; stigmas 1.5–2 mm. Achenes chestnut brown to purplish brown, ovoid, 1.5–2 × 1.2 mm, base sessile, apex apiculate, puncticulate.
A sedge. It is a herb that grows each year from seed. It grows 5-18 cm high. The stem is 1 mm across. It is sharply triangle shaped but smooth. The leaves are the same length as the stem. The leaf blade is 13 cm long and 3 mm wide. It is soft and flexible. The flowers are in a round compact cluster of 50-100 spikes. The nut is 3-4 mm long.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.04 - 0.19
Root system fibrous-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows in waste places and often these are sandy. In Pakistan it grows in moist vales between 1,300-2,000 m altitude.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 6-10

Usage

The swollen culm base is chewed and added to food as a flavouring.
Uses medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Fumigant (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Kyllinga squamulata world distribution map, present in China, Pakistan, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:309964-1
WFO ID wfo-0000455243
COL ID 6NQD9
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 629996
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Kyllinga squamulata