Cyperus pedunculatus (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cyperus pedunculatus (R. Br.) Kern

Family: Cyperaceae

Synonyms

• Mariscus pedunculatus (R. Br.) Koyama,
• Remirea maritima Aubl.,
• R. pedunculata R. Br.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: teki laut (general), suga (Sula), takiu gumi-gumini (Northern Halmahera).

Distribution

Pantropical; found throughout South-East Asia.

Uses

Suitable to bind coastal sands and dunes. Dried plants are used in perfumes for their pleasant odour. An infusion of the root is said to be used in Brazil and Guyana as a sudorific and diuretic. The rhizome is astringent and diuretic.

Observations

• Slightly succulent herb with erect stems, 3-12 cm tall; rhizomes long, creeping.
• Leaves crowded, thick, canaliculate.
• Inflorescence consisting of 3-7 congested, sessile, ovoid or ellipsoid spikes each with about 30 spikelets.

C. pedunculatus is locally abundant on sandy shores and dunes along the coast. There is some dispute whether to treat this species as a monotypic section within the genus Cyperus L. or as the monotypic genus Remirea Kerr.

Selected sources

• Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950-. Series 1. Volume 1, 4-. Kluwer, Dordrecht & Flora Malesiana Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands.
• Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, the Hague, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 261, 1450 pp.
• Hooper, S.S., 1983. Remirea or Mariscus? - new support for a monotypic genus in Cyperaceae. Kew Bulletin 38: 479-480.
• Wealth of India (various editors), 1948-1976. A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products: raw materials. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India. 4441 pp.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen