Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Cyperus esculentus L.

chufa, juncia avellanada, Coquillo amarillo, chufa flatsedge, coco, earth almond , yellow nut sedge

Slender perennial with fibrous roots and covered in light brown scales, glumes 7-nerved, yellow-brown or reddish brown (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).

Found on sandy seashores, farms, and open sandy grassland (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Liliopsida (= Monocotyledoneae)

Order
Cyperales

Family
Cyperaceae

Genus
Cyperus

Species
esculentus

Taxon category: Accepted

In Hooker (1847), Andersson (1855), and Robinson (1902) as Cyperus strigosus L.

Origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: The native range of this species is Tropical & Subtropical regions of the world (POWO, 2023).

References

  • Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
  • Andersson, N.J. (1861-1862) Ueber Die Vegetation der Galapagos-Inseln Linnaea 31: 571-631
  • Andersson, N.J. (1858) Flora of the Galápagos Islands (translated from Swedish). Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Academien Botanik 1: 3-34
  • CONABIO (2009) Catálogo taxonómico de especies de México. Cap. nat. México 1.
  • D'Arcy, W.G. (1987) Flora of Panama. Checklist and Index. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 17(1): i–xxx, 1–328; 18(2): i–ix, 1–672.
  • Eliasson, U. (1965) Studies in Galápagos Plants. II. Cyperales. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 59: 469-491.
  • Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
  • Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
  • Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
  • Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
  • Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
  • Tucker, G.C. (1986) The species of Cyperus described by Liebmann in "Mexicos halvgraes". Syst. Bot. 11(1): 14–19.
  • Tucker, G.C. (1994) Revision of the Mexican species of Cyperus (Cyperaceae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 43: 1–213.
  • Van der Werff, H.H. (s.a.) Pers. obs. and colls. Personal observations and collections.
  • Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Cyperus esculentus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=887. Accessed 30 October 2026.