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38. CYPERACEAE
I. Cyperus rotundus Linn Sp. PI. 45. 1753. (Fig. 181).
Cyperus hexastachyous Rottb.—Cyperus leptostachyus Griff -Cyperus tenuifforus Royle—
Cyperus curvatus Llanos.
Sinh. Kalanduru; 7am. Kora. Korai Kilangu; Hindi. Mootchoo. Moiha. Mutha;
Sans. Abda. Arnoda, Bhadrakshi, Bhadramusta, Gangcya. Granthi, Gundra, Hima, Kachhola,
Kakshottha, Kasheru, Krodeshtha, Kuru. Kurubilva, Kutannata, Musta, Mustaka, Suganthigranthila,
Valya, Varahi, Varida, Vindakhya.
An annual herb with a small, stolonifcrous rootstock; stolons elongate, slender, bearing
ovoid, hard, tunicate, black, fragrant tubers 0.8—2.5 cm diameter, root fibres wiry, covered
with flexuous root hairs; stems subsolitary, 15—60cm long, slender, trigonous below, triquetrous
above, base sometimes tuberous; leaves subradical, shorter or longer than the stem, narrowly
linear, 0.4—0.8 cm broad, finely acuminate or narrowed from the middle to both ends, flat,
flaccid, l-veined; inflorescence a simple or compound umbel, primary rays 2—8, unequal, very
slender bearing short spikes of 4—10, slender, spreading, red-brown spikelets; involucre bracts
3, longest about 17.5 cm spikelets 1.2—3.1 cm 1.5 mm broad, linear, acute, slightly
compressed, 10—20-flowered, pale or dark brown; rhachilla very slender, wings elliptic; flowers
bisexual at the axils of glumes which are 1.6—2.4 mm long, closely or loosely imbricate, suberect,
ovate, obtuse, dorsally green, hardly keeled streaked with red-brown, 5—7 veined, sides broadly
membranous, margins and tip narrowly scarious; perianth 0; stamens 3, anthers long, narrow,
muticous, basifixed; ovary superior, unilocular with an erect basal ovule, style long, stigmas 3,
capillary; fruit J length of the glume, obovoid or oblong, obtuse, trigonous, black, opaque and
granulate.
Flowers all the year round.
Illustrations. Rumph., Herb. Ambo. 6- pi. 1. 1741—45; Kirtikar and Basu, Indian
Med. Plants, pi. 1011. 1933.
Distribution. Occurs in all warm countries including India, Ceylon and Philippine Islands
In Ceylon, it is a very common and vexatious weed in cultivated ground in the low-country.
Afghanistan. Herb. Griffith 6179, Kew Distribution 1863—4. India. Punjab. T. Thomson
Assam: Jenkins. Bengal: J. D. Hooker andT. Thomson. Himal. Bor. Occ., T. Thomson. Pen. Ind
Or., Herb. Wight 2868, Kew Distribution 1866—8. Ceylon. Northern Prov., Jaffna, J. M. Silva,
Nov. 1920; Thwaites CP. 804; North Central Prov., Anuradhapura, Sinniah, Nov. 1926: Eastern
Prov., Trincomalee. Ramanathan 421, Dec. 1926; Central Prov., Dambulla, Thwaites CP. 3966.
Gannoruwa, Alston 300, Oct. 1926; Haragama, Alston, Oct. 1926; Kadugannawa, Alston 1089,
June 1927; Southern Prov., Tissamaharama, Herb. Peradeniya, Dec. 1882. Philippine
Islands. La Midu, Lete 102, June 1927.
Composition. The tubers contain an essential oil, fat, sugar, gum, carbohydrates, starch,
albuminous matter and an alkaloid. The crude volatile oil contains sesquiterpene ketone
a -cyperone and has antibiotic properties.
Uses. The tubers are astringent and antiseptic. A paste made with lime juice is applied
in acne, scorpion stings and ulcers with beneficial effect. Internally, the tubers act as a
stomachic, carminative and cholagogue with astringent properties and used in anorexia, acute
dyspepsia, diarrhoea, dysentery and congestion of the liver. They are also used in acute
laryngitis, bronchitis and pneumonia. In India, they are held in great esteem as a diaphoretic,
astringent, stimulant, tonic, diuretic and demulcent. A paste of the tubers is applied on the
breasts as a galactagogue. In Indo-China they are given to women in childbirth and
to infants for indigestion. In Cambodia they are used in liver complaints with jaundice, for
malarial fever, etc. In the Philippine Islands, they are employed in dysentery and in Java for
urinary disorders. In Vietnam, the plant is used as a diuretic and emmenagogue and for
uterine haemorrhage.
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