Cyperus fuscus

History of Spread

Cyperus fuscus (Brown Flatsedge) is native to Eurasia from Greenland and Iceland) south throgh Europe to Mediterranean Africa and northern India (McKenzie et al. 1998). It was first found in North America in 1877 along Revere Beach MA) and was subsequently found in a number of Northeastern seaports and estuaries, including the tidal Connecticut River (Graves et al. 1910) the Delaware River at Philadelphia (Rhoads and Klein 1993), ponds and marshy areas near docks at Canton MD, on Baltimore Harbor, in 1901-1904 (Fessenden 1956; U.S. National Herbarium collections), and in 'wet waste ground near wharves', Washington and Alexandria (Hitchcock and Standley 1919). These locations are consistent with transport in dry ballast. We have no clear recent records of C. fuscus from East Coast estuaries. However, this sedge is established in MO, NE, NV, and CA (McKenzie et al. 1998).

In Chesapeake Bay, Cyperus fuscus was collected in various locations in Washington and Alexandria (Hitchcock and Standley 1919), including 'the Duke St. Sewer'' in Alexandria (U.S. National Herbarium collections). In Virginia, it is known only from Fairfax and Arlington Counties (Harvill et al. 1992). In the Baltimore area, in 1901-1904, C. fuscus was found in ballast piles and bayside ponds in Canton (Fessenden 1956). We have found no recent reports of specimens from Chesapeake Bay and assume that this plant is extinct in the region. Mark Strong, of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Botany Department, has not seen this plant in the Chesapeake Bay region (Strong 1995).

References- Fessenden 1956; Graves et al. 1910; Harvill et al. 1992; Hitchcock and Standley 1919; McKenzie et al. 1998; Rhoads and Klein 1993; Strong 1995; U.S. National Herbarium collections

Invasion Comments