Cyperaceae FAMILY

Fuirena umbellata

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial

Growth—

The plant is found as a weed in rice fields^[1]. The basal node of the flowering culm is swollen into a bulbil, so that the tufted plant resembles a shallot (Allium cepa var). The plant spreads by means of these bulbils, making it a difficult weed to eradicate^[2].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Fuirena+umbellata>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Cyperaceae of Economic, Ethnobotanical and Horticultural Importance: A Checklist — Simpson D.A.; Inglis C.A. · The Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew, London · 2001 · ISBN 1-84246-038-2 ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive checklist, giving the range, habitat and uses of over 500 species.
[2]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
[3]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
[4]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
[PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎