Seeds of South Australia
Cyperus nervulosus (Cyperaceae)
Annual Flat-sedge
List of species for Cyperus
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Seed collecting:
December to April
Herbarium regions:
Lake Eyre, Eastern, Murray
NRM regions:
South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
IBRA regions
LEGEND
Murray Mallee (MDD02)Murray Darling Depression
 Vulnerable   (IUCN: VU B2ab(i,ii,iii))   (Probable Decline)   [only on river; not seen since 1994]
Murray Scroll Belt (RIV06)Riverina
 Vulnerable   (IUCN: VU B2ab(i,ii,iii))   (Probable Decline)   [only on river; not seen since 1994]
Bimbowrie (BHC05)Broken Hill Complex
 Data Deficient   [DD, spread by birds after flood, ephemeral]
Oodnadatta (STP02)Stony Plains
 Rare   (IUCN: RA d(i,ii))   [outlier]
Lake Pure (CHC07)Channel Country
 Near Threatened   [outlier]
RSCA map:
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion. Please click the thumbnail map.
AVH map:
Australian distribution map (external link)
SA Census:
Census of South Australian plants (external link)     [genus Cyperus]
Name derivation:
 Cyperus from the Latin 'cyperos' and derived from the Greek 'kypeiros', an ancient Greek name used by Homer and Theophrastus for several plants of this genus. Nervulosus means with little veins.
Distribution:
 Found mainly along the river Murray with scattered records in the central and north-east parts of South Australia, growing on damp sandy soil fringing receding water in lakes and watercourses. Also found in all mainland states.
Status:
 Native. Rare in South Australia. Rare in New South Wales and Victoria. Common in the other states.
Plant description:
 Dwarf tufted annual sedge. Culms trigonous, smooth, to 20 cm high, to 1 mm diameter. Leaves not septate-nodulose, as long as culms or much shorter, to 2 mm wide. Flower-spike simple, of 2–6 branches to 6 cm long, or head-like; spikes short, broad-ovoid, to 4 cm diam.; involucral bracts leaf-like, 2–4 exceeding inflorescence. Spikelets flattened, 5–20 per spike, 5–20 mm long, 2–3 mm wide in side view, 6–54-flowered; rachilla not or scarcely winged, persistent; glumes obtuse, with excurved mucro to 0.7 mm long, with keel 3–5-nerved, sides hyaline, pale yellow- to red rown, 2–2.5 mm long (excluding mucro); stamens 2. Flowers in spring and summer.
Fruit type:
 Pale brown globular fruit-head in clusters at the terminal of stems.
Seed type:
 Dark brown to black ovoid seed to 0.6 mm long and 0.2 mm wide, with a tuberculate surface and covered in a thin whitish transparent layer.
Embryo type:
 Capitate.
Seed collecting:
 Collect fruits by picking off the mature heads, those turning brown colour and come-off easily.
Seed cleaning:
 Place the heads in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the heads with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any unwanted material. Be careful as the seeds are very small. Seeds are ovid, dark brown to black and hard. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.
Seed viability:
 From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 95%.
Seeds stored:
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)		Number
of plants		Date
collected		Collection number
Collection location		Date
stored		% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA44000 (0.75 g)5011-May-2008RJB77864
Lake Eyre		19-Sep-200895%+5°C, -18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
DateResultT0T50Pre-treatment | Germination medium | Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod
Jun-1793%77 30% hydrogen peroxide for 10 min, water rinse, 500 mg/L gibberellic acid for 44 h;
1% agar;
Incubated under summer conditions
Jun-1783%714
1% agar;
Incubated under summer conditions
Jun-1717%14NA 30% hydrogen peroxide for 10 min, water rinse, 500 mg/L gibberellic acid for 44 h;
1% agar;
Incubated under spring/autumn conditions
Jun-173%28NA
1% agar;
Incubated under spring/autumn conditions
Jun-170%NANA
1% agar;
Incubated under winter conditions
Jun-170%NANA 30% hydrogen peroxide for 10 min, water rinse, 500 mg/L gibberellic acid for 44 h;
1% agar;
Incubated under winter conditions
Result: Maximum percentage of germination observed.
T0: Number of days before first germinant observed.
T50: Number of days to achieve 50% germination.
Pre-treatment: The initial treatment that the seeds received prior to placement on germination media.
Germination medium: The substrate that seeds were placed on for the duration of the germination experiment.
Incubator conditions:
Photoperiod: The duration of light exposure that the seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Thermoperiod: The constant or diurnal temperatures that seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Winter conditions: 15°C 20 h (3am→11pm); 5°C 4 h (11pm→3am) / 10 h light (8am→6pm); 14 h dark (6pm→8am)
Spring/Autumn conditions: 22°C 12 h (8am→8pm); 10°C 12 h (8pm→8am) / 12 h light (8am→8pm); 12 h dark (8pm→8am)
Summer conditions: 30°C 14 h (6am→8pm); 15°C 10 h (8pm→6am) / 14 h light (6am→8pm); 10 h dark (8pm→6am)