Cyperus esculentus L.   Cyperaceae (Sedge Family)                  Native, Old World   Yellow Nut Grass   Earth Almond     Chufa

                                        October Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Perennial with scaly stolons ending in edible tubers; culms stout, smooth, triangular, 15-50 cm. tall; leaves numerous, about equaling the culms, flat, 3-10 mm. wide, smooth; involucral leaves 2-6; inflorescence umbellate with 5-10 rays, 0-12 cm. long; spikelets linear, 6-30 mm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, flat.

Habitat:  Noxious weed of garden and low places, at low elevs., many plant communities, cismontane Calif. to Alaska, Atlantic Coast, trop. Am.  0-1000 m. June-Oct.

Name:  Greek, cypeiros, the classical name.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 896).  Latin, esculentus, good to eat.  (Jaeger 97).  The tubers are good to eat.

General:  Common throughout the study area.  Photographed along Back Bay Dr. at the seep just below the intersection with Eastbluff Dr.  (my comments).     Tubers have been found in Egyptian tombs as old as 2400 BC.  Paiute Indians pounded tubers and mixed them with tobacco to treat athletes foot.  The tubers are eaten by many water fowl and small mammals.  Peeled and roasted tubers can be ground to use as a coffee substitute or as flour.  The flour is sweet and makes delicious cookies or other baked goods.  Tubers  may be used raw in salads or steamed and eaten with butter and seasoning.  The base of the plant stem makes a nice raw vegetable.  (Clarke 162-164).     Yellow nutgrass is becoming widespread and particularly troublesome in some potato, bean and fruit growing areas, where frequent irrigations are needed for crop growth, thus furnishing sufficient moisture for the nutgrass.  The common name "earth-almond" is properly descriptive.  Under the name "chufa" the nutlets are occasionally to be found in the markets of the Southern States.  C. esculentus is cultivated to a limited extent in the Gulf States for hogs, the nutlets affording a palatable and nutritious forage.  (Robbins et al. 115-116).         C. papyrus was used by the ancient Egyptians to make papyrus paper.  It is believed that papyrus was first used about 4000 B.C.  Egyptian rulers made its production a state monopoly and guarded the secret of making papyrus.  Papyrus was the only paper in the world until A.D. 105 when paper was invented in China.  When paper making was introduced into Egypt, the production of papyrus declined rapidly and was lost to the world until 1965 when an Egyptian scientist discovered the lost secret of hand-making it.  Briefly, the procedure for making papyrus is as follows:  The outer skin of the harvested stalks is removed and the inner pith of the plant is cut into long thin strips.  The strips are pounded to break down the fibres and then soaked in water for three days until the pith is clear and pliable.  The strips are laid, overlapping, on a piece of cotton fabric. Two layers of strips are used, one horizontal and one vertical, then another piece of cotton fabric is added on top. The layers of cotton and papyrus are pressed and left in the sun.  Every 8 hours, the absorbent cotton barriers are replaced.  This process goes on for 3-4 days or until the papyrus is dry.  Long scrolls of papyrus were used to record the events of the day.  (www.beshay.com/paphist  1998).        The Yokuts, Indians of the Sacramento Valley, ate the tubers of Cyperus species along with their seeds.  Some Native Americans used Cyperus esculentus as both sewing and wrapping material in coiled baskets, but it is not the most preferred species, as it does not have the tensile strength of others.  (Stevens, Michelle L. “ETHNOECOLOGY OF SELECTED CALIFORNIA WETLAND PLANTS”  FREMONTIA, A Journal of the California Native Plant Society Vol. 32, No. 4 October 2004 pp. 7-15).        Worldwide weed.  (Hickman, Ed. 1139).    

Text Ref:  Abrams, Vol. I 259; Hickman, Ed. 1139; Munz, Calif. Flora 1425.

Photo Ref:  Oct 1 83 # 13,14,16.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by B. Hailey.

First Found:  October 1983.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 21.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 4/8/05.  

                  October Photo                                                                   August Photo