Kyllinga odorata Vahl

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Cyperaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Kyllinga odorata Vahl

  • Description

    Species Description - Tufted perennial, 7-30 cm tall; rhizome short, nodose, with filiform roots; culms crowded along nodes of the rhizome, obscurely 3-angled, somewhat compressed, 0.5-1.2 mm wide at base, distinctly ribbed, green, glabrous. Leaves 5-20; blades 3-18(-30) cm X 2-3 mm , many-veined, glabrous, scabrous along margins and midvein beneath, the apex long-acuminate; sheaths finely veined, green, glabrous, closed at summit, with a concave to truncate orifice, the membranous inner band red-dotted. Inflorescence a head of 1-3 short, whitish spikes, 1-1.5 cm diam., the central spike largest; involucral bracts (1-)3(-4), leaflike, 1-8(-12) cm x 1-3 mm , glabrous, exceeding the inflorescence; spikes ovoid to cylindrical; spikelets densely crowded on rachis, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 1-flowered, disarticulating from base at maturity, falling entire; scales broadly ovate, 2-2.5 X 1.2-2 mm , curvate-keeled, (5-)7(-9)-nerved, glabrous, whitish, minutely redlineolate, the keel recurved at apex, short-mucronate, smooth or remotely scabrous toward base. Stamens 2, the anthers linear, 0.6-0.8 mm long, with connective prolonged at apex as a small appendage; styles 2-branched to about the middle. Achene oblongovate, 1.2-1.5 x 0.7-1 mm , broadly rounded to truncate at apex, apiculate, short-stipitate at base, reddish brown to dark brown, papillose.

  • Discussion

    Kyllinga sesquiflora Ton*., Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 3: 287. 1836. Cyperus sesquiflorus (Torr.) Mattf. & Kiik. in Engl., Pflanzenr., ser.4, 20(101): 591. 1936.

  • Distribution

    Occasional along wet stream banks and roadsides. Rosenberg (B304). Also on St. Thomas; southeastern United States to South America, including the West Indies, also tropical Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, and northern Australia.

    Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| West Indies| Africa| Madagascar Africa| Asia| Malaysia Asia| Australia Oceania|