Nutgrass vs Poorland flatsedge

Cyperus rotundus compared with Cyperus compressus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Nutgrass	Poorland flatsedge
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order same	Poales (Grasses)	Poales (Grasses)
Family same	Cyperaceae	Cyperaceae
Genus same	Cyperus	Cyperus
Species	Cyperus rotundus	Cyperus compressus

Evolutionary Relationship

Nutgrass and Poorland flatsedge share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Cyperus.

Conservation Status

Nutgrass

LC — Least Concern

Poorland flatsedge

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Nutgrass	Poorland flatsedge
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Nutgrass

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, flooded grasslands and savannas, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 8 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (18 countries), Asia (20 countries), Europe (11 countries), North America (12 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (14 countries), and South America (7 countries).

Poorland flatsedge

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including flooded grasslands and savannas, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Indomalayan realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (6 countries), Asia (7 countries), North America (5 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (11 countries), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 31 countries:

🇧🇹 Bhutan 🇧🇷 Brazil 🇨🇳 China 🇨🇴 Colombia 🇨🇺 Cuba 🇪🇬 Egypt 🇸🇻 El Salvador 🇫🇯 Fiji 🇬🇹 Guatemala 🇬🇳 Guinea 🇭🇳 Honduras 🇰🇮 Kiribati 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands 🇲🇺 Mauritius 🇫🇲 Micronesia 🇲🇿 Mozambique 🇲🇲 Myanmar 🇳🇷 Nauru 🇵🇼 Palau 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea 🇼🇸 Samoa 🇸🇨 Seychelles 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands 🇿🇦 South Africa 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste 🇹🇴 Tonga 🇹🇻 Tuvalu 🇺🇸 United States 🇻🇳 Vietnam