Rhynchospora corymbosa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction

Family: Cyperaceae

Synonyms

Indonesia: ilat rawa (Sundanese), suket brem (Javanese), rumput sendayan (Indonesian)
Malaysia: sendayan piah, rumput pepara, rumput serian (Peninsular)
Philippines: agas (general), bariu-bariu (Bikol), salagata (Maranao)
Thailand: ya-khombang (Nakhon Si Thammarat), ya-baikhom (Bangkok)
Vietnam: cói dầu hồng chùy.

Pantropical, including South-East Asia.

Ploughed in as a green manure in rice fields. The stems are used for making mats, sandals and baskets.

A perennial, tillering herb with short rhizomes, up to 100(-150) cm tall. Stem triangular, leafy.
Leaves flat, rough along the margins, 8-20 mm wide.
Inflorescence 20-40 cm long, consisting of 2-5 distant clusters of subsessile and rayed spikes.
Spikelets 2-3-flowered, rusty brown, lower floret bisexual, upper one or ones male; perianth segments 6 in the bisexual flower, bristle-like; style with a broad conical base.

R. corymbosa is common and often dominant e.g. in open swampy sites, rice fields, and on river banks, up to 1300 m altitude.

Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin No 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. 590, 513, 507 pp.
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.
Soerjani, M., Kostermans, A.J.G.H. & Tjitrosoepomo, G., 1987. Weeds of rice in Indonesia. Balai Pustaka, Jakarta, Indonesia. 716 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.