Purple Nutsedge

Scientific Name - Cyperus rotundus L.
Family - Cyperaceae

Rapidly-spreading, perennial with three-ranked basal leaves. Leaves flat or slightly corrugated, usually shorter than flowering stem, abruptly tapering at tip. Seedhead purple to reddish-brown, formed at end of triangular stem. Tubers, oblong, covered with hairs, and found in chains connected by brown, wiry rhizomes. Tubers bitter to taste. Reproduces primarily by tubers. Found north to Kentucky and West Virginia, west to central Texas and in southern California. Also occurs in the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Hawaii.