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Shichito Matgrass

Cyperus malaccensis

Shichito Matgrass
Photo: 阿橋 HQ, CC BY-SA 2.0
Family
Cyperaceae (Cyper family)
Grows as
Grass
Native range
Trop. & Subtrop. Asia to N. Australia
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Cyperus malaccensis or short-leaved Malacca galingale is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It is native to South Asia and Oceania.

Uses

It is used in packaging goods in South China, mainly before the 1980s. At that time people packaged goods by wrapping them in sedge. It was common to use a long loop to tie up the package, to aid carrying with the index finger. It was mostly replaced by plastic bags but is still used to package zongzi and Chinese mitten crab. However, liquid in the food may drip out when walking, which led to the use of the plastic bags. There are few people left growing and selling it.

Other Cyperus plants

Cyperus absconditicoronatus · Cyperus acholiensis · Tapertip flatsedge · Cyperus afroalpinus · Cyperus afrodunensis · Cyperus afromontanus · Cyperus afrovaricus · Inflatedscale flatsedge · Cyperus ajax · Cyperus alaticaulis · Cyperus albopilosus · Cyperus albopurpureus

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cyperus malaccensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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