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Floristic Inventory of the Florida Keys Database Online

Cyperus floridanus Sw.
Florida flatsedge

Cyperus floridanus
Copyright by: Beryn Harty
Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden

Family: Cyperaceae

Group: Monocot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Herb

Perennation: Perennial

Native Range: South Florida and the West Indies.

NatureServe Global Status: Rare

State of Florida Status: Endangered

Florida Natural Areas Inventory State Status: Critically Imperiled

IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status: Imperiled

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Native

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Cultivated

Comments: Although ranked as critically imperliled by IRC in Rare Plants of South Florida (Gann, Bradley and Woodmansee 2002), a number of new populations have been discovered since 2002 and additional herbarium specimens have become available leading to the downranking of this to imperiled in 2014. Updated NatureServe criteria were used.

For more images, click on the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants link below.

For a specimen image, visit the New York Botanical Garden Virtual Herbarium.

Synonyms: C. filiformis [misapplied].

FLORIDA KEYS Occurrence: Present

FLORIDA KEYS Native Status: Native

IRC FLORIDA KEYS Status: Critically Imperiled

Map of select IRC data for the Florida Keys

Florida Keys History and Distribution: First collected between 1838 and 1853 by John Loomis Blodgett on the island of Key West.  Reported in 1913 by John Kunkel Small for open hammocks and sandy places on the island of Key West.  Recently disovered by George D. Gann on Stock Island adjacent to the island of Key West.  Also recently discovered on Lignumvitae Key.  We consider this native and extant in the middle Keys and lower Keys.  For more information on C. floridanus in South Florida, see IRC's species account.

Other data on Cyperus floridanus available from :


Cyperus floridanus has been reported from the following 2 conservation areas in the FLORIDA KEYS :
Occurrence Native Status
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park Present Native
National Key Deer Refuge Present Native




Cyperus floridanus has been reported for the following habitat in THE FLORIDA KEYS :
Disturbed Upland


All Images:

Cyperus floridanus
Copyright by: Beryn Harty
Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden

Cyperus floridanus
Copyright by: Beryn Harty
Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden

Cyperus floridanus
Copyright by: Beryn Harty
Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden