Fuirena umbellata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Fuirena umbellata Rottb.

Family: Cyperaceae

Synonyms

• Fuirena quinquangularis Hassk.,
• F. philippinensis Gand.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: jukut wawalingian (Sundanese), kasabon (Javanese), rumput baku buluh (Indonesian)
• Malaysia: rumput kelukut, rumput lidah bengkerang, rumput buku buloh (Peninsular)
• Papua New Guinea: sinbora (Orokaiva)
• Thailand: ya-samkhom (Chiang Mai)
• Vietnam: cỏ cứng hoa tán.

Distribution

Widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics, including South-East Asia.

Uses

Ploughed in as a green manure in rice fields.

Observations

• Sturdy perennial plant with short rhizomes, up to 110 cm tall. Stem conspicuously 4-5-angled, leafy.
• Leaves flat, (5-)8-15(-25) mm wide, with 5 prominent nerves.
• Spikelets densely clustered in a terminal and several axillary inflorescences; glumes pilose, awned; perianth segments obovate, narrowed at base.

F. umbellata is common in open wet locations, sometimes in secondary forest, up to 1800 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd Edition. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.
• Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950-. Series 1. Volume 1, 4-. Kluwer, Dordrecht & Flora Malesiana Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands.
• Smitinand, T., 1980. Thai plant names. Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand. 379 pp.
• 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