Cyperus prolifer Lam.

Global description
 
Cyperus prolifer is a vivacious tufted sedge reaching up to 75 cm in height. The rootstock is rhizomatous. The tufts consist essentially of flowering stems with some foliar sheaths with very rudimentary lamina. The inflorescence is a dense umbel of 80-250 floral axis, underpinned by 3 to 4 short leafy bracts. The spikelets are linear lanceolate with slightly mucronate glumes, straw-colored or red. The fruit is an obovoid achene, pale brown.

First leaves
 
First leaves sheathed with very short lamina, V cross-sectio, erect.
 
General habit
 
Tufted vivacious herbaceous plant, leafless, dense clumps, up to 80 cm in height.
 
Underground system
 
Short and thick rhizomes emitting fibrous roots.
 
Stem
 
Flowering stems erect, slightly trigonal or sub-cylindrical, smooth, 25-75 cm high.
 
Leaf
 
Leafless plant or leaves reduced to sheaths with a very rudimentary lamina.
 
Inflorescence
 
The inflorescence is a dense umbel, erect, 80 to 150 long, sub-equal radii of 5 to 15 cm; the involucral bracts are few (2 or 3), shorter than the umbel, 2 to 4 cm long.
 
Flower
 
The spikelets are linear lanceolate, 5 to 12 mm in length by 1 to 1.5 mm wide; glumes ovate-oblong, very obtuse, slightly mucronate, straw-colored or reddish, smooth keel, 1.5 mm long; 3 stamens and ovary surmounted by a style of 0.3 mm with a stigma of 1 to 1.2 mm.
 
Fruit
 
The fruit is an obovoid achene, light brown, equaling 1/3 of the glume.

Origin
 
Cyperus prolifer is native to southern Africa.
 
Worldwide distribution
 
It is present in countries of the coast of southern Africa and Madagascar, South East Coast of the US, Australia.

https://www.gbif.org/species/2715505