Nutgrass is a perennial sedge that spreads by underground tubers and rhizomes and is widely regarded as one of the worst weeds of farms and gardens. It grows easily in most soils and is best controlled by removing tubers rather than just cutting the top growth.
Family
Cyperaceae (Cyper family)
Grows as
Grass
Light
Full sun
Water
Tolerates both dry and moist soil; it is a weed that copes with most watering regimes.
Soil
Almost any soil, including poor and disturbed ground.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Trop. & Subtrop. Old World
Climate
subtropical
About
Cyperus rotundus (coco-grass, Java grass, nut grass, purple nut sedge or purple nutsedge, red nut sedge, Khmer kravanh chruk) is a species of sedge (Cyperaceae) native to Africa, southern and central Europe (north to France and Austria), and southern Asia. The word cyperus derives from the Greek κύπερος, kyperos, and rotundus is from Latin, meaning "round". The earliest attested form of the word cyperus is the Mycenaean Greek 𐀓𐀞𐀫, ku-pa-ro, written in Linear B syllabic script.
Where it grows
It prefers dry conditions, but will tolerate moist soils, and often grows in wastelands and in crop fields.
Uses
C. rotundus has many beneficial uses. It is a staple carbohydrate in tropical regions for modern hunter-gatherers and is a famine food in some agrarian cultures.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cyperus rotundus 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.