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Yellow Nutsedge

Cyperus esculentus L.

Cyperaceae (Sedge Family)

▲ ▼ colonies of young plants

stem bases showing triangular shape

▲▼ flowering plants

uprooted flowering plant

▲▼ inflorescences

 

▲ ▼ rhizomes and tuber formation 

 

 

▲  tuber

 

Yellow nutsedge

·         not a grass, but a sedge; has a triangular stem; grows 6-30 inches tall

·         produces seeds, rhizomes and tubers

·         has yellow-green leaves and small, golden panicles

·         likes, low, wet, high organic matter soils, but adaptable to upland sites

·         tubers are more important than seed for spread

·         a yellow nutsedge moderate to heavy infestation can produce 1-10 million tubers/A/yr at end of short, thin underground stems

·         existing tubers begin growth in May, new tuber production begins in July

·         one plant can produce 1900 plantlets from thin, white rhizomes, 7000 tubers per/yr, spreading to about at 6' diameter

·         tubers don't take up systemic herbicides as well as rest of plant

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