Galapagos Species Database

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

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Cyperus laevigatus L.

cyperus, smooth flatsedge

Creeping perennial with short rhizomes and brownish scales. Sheaths are brown or dark brown (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).

Found in wet sandy soil and shallow wáter, especially in brackish habitats (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Liliopsida (= Monocotyledoneae)

Order
Cyperales

Family
Cyperaceae

Genus
Cyperus

Species
laevigatus

Taxon category: Accepted

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 Tropics & Subtropics (POWO, 2023).

References

  • Adsersen, H. (1989) The Rare Plants of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador and their Conservation. Biol. Conservation 47(1): 49-77.
  • Brako, L. Zarucchi,J.L. (1993) Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45: i–xl, 1–1286.
  • Castro, S. A. Curtis, C.D., Silva, L., Torres-Santana, C.W., Reyes-Betancort, J.A., Atkinson, R., Jaramillo, P., Guézou, A. & Jaksic, F. M. (2010) Floristic homogenization as a teleconnected trend in oceanic islands. Diversity and Distributions, (Diversity Distrib.): 1-9.
  • CONABIO (2009) Catálogo taxonómico de especies de México. Cap. nat. México 1.
  • Eliasson, U. (1965) Studies in Galápagos Plants. II. Cyperales. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 59: 469-491.
  • 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).
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
  • Schatz, G.E. Phillipson, P. (2010) Catalogue of the Native and Naturalized Vascular Plants of Madagascar. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. ined.
  • Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
  • 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.
  • 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 laevigatus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=889. Accessed 30 October 2026.