Cyperus cyperoides subsp. cyperoides old inflorescences

These clusters of old Cyperus cyperoides subsp. cyperoides spikelets have lost their floral aspect as fruits containing seeds, tiny nutlets, are forming. Flowering happens in late summer and autumn.

The pointy cylinders of spikelets grow in branched clusters in the inflorescence, turning brown as they age. The leaf-like bracts visible below the inflorescences are green, linear and channelled.

The plant grows to about 40 cm in height. Its fairly broad, linear leaves are strap-shaped. This one was seen in the Mjejane Game Reserve in April (Onderstall, 1996; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist).