At Lake Naivasha, the culms, triangular in cross-section, were as much as 7 inches (18 cm) on a side in width. Each culm is a single internode - the longest known of any plant. each of the up to one thousand rays of the umbel terminates in a spike of small flowers) for a total height of 31 feet (9.4 m). This tall, robust aquatic plant can grow 4 to 5 m (13 to 16 ft) high, but on the margins of high altitude lakes such as Lake Naivasha in Kenya and Lake Tana in Ethiopia, at altitudes around 6,000 feet (1,800 m) the papyrus culms can measure up to 29.5 feet (9.0 m) in length, with an additional 18 inches (46 cm) for the inflorescence (a spicate umbel i.e. It has been introduced outside its range to tropical regions worldwide (such as the Indian subcontinent, South America, and the Caribbean).ĭescription Papyrus plant ( Cyperus papyrus) at Kew Gardens, London In nature, it grows in full sun, in flooded swamps, and on lake margins throughout Africa, Madagascar, and the Mediterranean countries. It is now often cultivated as an ornamental plant. Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. Papyrus sedge (and its close relatives) has a very long history of use by humans, notably by the Ancient Egyptians (as it is the source of papyrus paper, one of the first types of paper ever made). It is a tender herbaceous perennial, native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water. Cyperus papyrus, better known by the common names papyrus, papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant, or Nile grass, is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae.
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