Plants of
South Australia
Cyperus victoriensis
Cyperaceae
Flat Sedge,
Yelka,
Put#a-put#a
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 7

Common names

Flat Sedge

Yelka

Put#a-put#a

Etymology

Cyperus from the Latin 'cyperos', derived from the Greek 'kypeiros', an ancient Greek name used by Homer and Theophrastus for several plants of this genus. Victoriensis refers to where the type specimen was collected, from the Murray River in Victoria.

Distribution and status

Found in he north-eastern South Australia, north of the Murray River to the Northern Territory and Queensland borders. Also found in all mainland States. Native Common in South Australia. Rare in Western Australia. Uncommon in Victoria. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Murray
NRM regions: Alinytjara Wilurara, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Perennial sedge to 80 cm high, producing slender rhizomes bearing ellipsoid fibrous-coated tubers which give rise to new stems. Stems relatively slender, somewhat trigonous at the top; the remainder cylindrical, the base thickened. Leaves few, narrow, much shorter than the stems. Bracts at least 2 or 3, the lowest usually longer than the inflorescence and often suberect. Inflorescence umbel lax, often thrown to one side; usually simple of few very slender rays; spikelets fairly close together but not clustered; usually 3-8 to each ray, spreading, rich-brown to pallid, linear, to 3 cm long and 2 mm wide, many-flowered. Flowering between August and December. Fruits are brown fruit clusters at top of stems. Seeds are black long triangular seed to 2 mm long and 0.8 mm wide, with a reticulate surface. Seed embryo type is capitate.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and February. Collect fruits either by picking off the mature heads, those turning brown and come-off easily or breaking off whole heads. Place the heads in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the heads with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any unwanted material. Be careful, as the seeds are very small. Seeds are yellowish ovoid and hard. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

14,000 (2.07 g)
~504-Apr-2007RJB71202
Eastern
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.