Grass or grass-like · Cyperaceae
Manyspike flatsedge
Cyperus polystachyos · includes its varieties and subspecies
Manyspike flatsedge is recorded as native to 21 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 366 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Manyspike flatsedge at a glance
- Native in
- 366 counties, across 21 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12a PLANTS minimum temperature 47°F
- Mature height
- 1.6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 47°F; zone 12a winters bottom out at 50°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Manyspike flatsedge is recorded as native to 21 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 366 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 366 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 6 counties
- Arkansas 8 counties
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 59 counties
- Georgia 9 counties
- Hawaii 4 counties
- Kentucky 11 counties
- Louisiana 44 counties
- Massachusetts 9 counties
- Mississippi 9 counties
- Missouri 5 counties
- New Jersey 9 counties
- New York 5 counties
- North Carolina 43 counties
- Pennsylvania 1 county
- South Carolina 21 counties
- Tennessee 14 counties
- Texas 41 counties
- Virginia 36 counties
- Puerto Rico 28 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Annual, Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.6 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 32 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 47°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CYPO
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Cyperus polystachyos (PLANTS symbol CYPO), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources