Cyperus rotundus L.

Spice Flower In the field

Family: CYPERACEAE

Genus: Cyperus

Catalan common name: Jonça. Jonça de cordellar.

Spanish common name: Castañuela. Juncia real. menor o redonda.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Cabrera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Some regions

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Geophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones. Fields and cultivated zones.

Characteristics: A rhizomatous plant with small tubercles in the rhizomes; it colonizes orchards, and also path-sides, even inside towns. The inflorescences are made up of long, flat, brownish-red spikelets, which appear on leaf-stalks which look like radii. The stems are triangular. It is a relatively small plant, up to 40 cm.