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Cyperus papyrus
Also called Papyrus, Egyptian Paperplant, Papayrus, Paper Plant
In Singapore: Bulrush, Paper Plant, Papyrus, Paper Reed, Egyptian Paper Plant (Grown in Singapore)
Papyrus sedge is a tall, tender aquatic perennial sedge that grows in shallow water and swamps, famous as the source of ancient papyrus paper. It needs constantly wet roots or shallow standing water and full sun to thrive.
Cyperus papyrus, better known by the common names papyrus sedge, papyrus, paper reed, Indian matting plant, or Nile grass, is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a tender herbaceous perennial, forming tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water.
In nature, it grows in full sun, in flooded swamps, and on lake margins throughout Africa (where it is native), Madagascar, and the Mediterranean region. It has been introduced to tropical regions worldwide, such as the Indian subcontinent, South America, and the Caribbean.
The papyrus plant is relatively easy to grow from seed, though in Egypt, it is more common to split the rootstock, and grows quite fast once established. Extremely moist soil or roots sunken in the water is preferred and the plant can flower all year long. Vegetative propagation is the suggested process of creating new plants. It is done by splitting the rhizomes into small groups and planting normally. C. papyrus is considered to be hardy in USDA hardiness zones 9 and 10.
In the United States, it has become invasive in Florida and has escaped from cultivation in Louisiana, California, and Hawaii.
Papyrus is a C4 sedge that forms highly productive monotypic stands over large areas of wetland in Africa. It can be found in tropical rain forests, and in permanent swamps (including lake and river margins) in savanna areas, of Africa. It grows in annual temperatures of 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F) and a soil pH of 6.0 to 8.5. It flowers during the warm growth season which may be all year round where water is always available, or, in wet and dry season climates, in the rainy to early dry season. It grows in waterlogged soil and water up to 2 m deep, though sections may break off and float in deeper water. It prefers full sun to partly shady conditions. Like most tropical plants, it is sensitive to frost, but will tolerate a few degrees of frost if its rhizomes are not exposed.
Tapertip flatsedge · Umbrella Sedge · Jointed flatsedge · Slender flatsedge · Mullumbimby Couch · Cyperus bulbosus · Variable flatsedge · Piedmont flatsedge · Globe flatsedge · Tall flatsedge · Yellow nutsedge · Haspan flatsedge
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cyperus papyrus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
