Cyperus kyllingia (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cyperus kyllingia Endl.

Protologue: Cat. horti Vindob. 1: 94 (1842).

Synonyms

• Kyllinga monocephala Rottb. (1773).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: jukut pendul bodas (Sundanese), melaran (Javanese), kembili-kembili (Batak)
• Malaysia: rumput teki, rumput butang (Peninsular)
• Philippines: anuang (Tagalog), borobotones (Bisaya), borsa-ñga-dadakkel (Iloko)
• Cambodia: smao kak kdam
• Thailand: yaa tumhu (Bangkok), yaa nuai faai (Nakhon Si Thammarat)
• Vietnam: cỏ bạc dâu, cỏ nút áo.

Distribution

Common in tropical and warm-temperate Asia, less common in tropical Africa and Australia and rare in South America; common throughout Malesia.

Uses

In India, the roots are considered an antidote to poisons. In Indonesia, they are used against diarrhoea and measles, and sometimes as a poultice for skin problems. In the Philippines, a decoction of the rhizomes is employed as a diuretic and, mixed with oil, it is applied externally to combat certain forms of dermatosis. In Vietnam, a poultice of the whole plant is used in the treatment of ulcers, sore throat, bacillary dysentery and fever. In Guam, the roots are used as abortifacient. C. kyllingia is sometimes used as a fodder.

Observations

• A perennial herb with horizontally creeping rhizome, stem 5-45 cm long.
• Leaves 2-4(-5) mm wide, canaliculate, scabrid on the margins in the upper part, grass-green.
• Inflorescence consisting of a terminal head with usually 1-3 much smaller, sessile heads at the base, involucral bracts 3-4, up to 30 cm long.
• Spikelets very closely packed; stamens 3, stigmas 2.
• Fruit biconvex, laterally compressed, oblong or oblong-obovoid, yellowish-brown to chestnut-coloured.

C. kyllingia occurs up to 1750 m altitude in open grassland, waste places, roadsides and regrowth.

Selected sources

• Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1951) 590 pp., Vol. 2 (1954) 513 pp., Vol. 3 (1957) 507 pp.
• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A-H) pp. 1-1240. Vol. 2 (I- Z) pp. 1241-2444.
• Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• Kern, J.H., 1974. Cyperaceae. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (General editor): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 7. Noordhoff, Leyden, the Netherlands. pp. 435-753.
• Komai, K. & Tang, C.S., 1989. Chemical constituents and inhibitory activities of essential oils from Cyperus brevifolius and Cyperus kyllingia. Journal of Chemical Ecology 15(8): 2171-2176.
• Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

Main genus page

• Cyperus (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• Nguyen Khac Khoi