• Family : CYPERACEAE
  (Sedge Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BARA-NAGAR-MOTHA FAMILY (बड़ा नागर मोथा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : CYPERACEAE
• Basionym : Cyperus pumilus L.
• Synonym(s) : Pycreus nitens (Retz.) Nees
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Pycreus pumilus (L.) Nees
• Vernacular name : Mustaka (Sanskrit)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Marshy areas, paddy fields and wetlands
• Comments / notes : Often on plains and on hills.
• Flower, Fruit : August-February
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy
• Collection Date : 15/11/2010
• Collection Nos : FAP 37848; FAP 37846
• Collection Locality : Batrepalli, Anantapur district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : West Godavari district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Maharashtra : All districts of Maharashtra
  • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Cuddalore district, Kanchipuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, The Nilgiri district, Pudukkottai district, Tiruvallur district, Tiruchirapalli district, Tirunelveli district, Tiruvannamalai district, Vellore district, Villipuram district
• World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, Southeast Asia, Malaysia
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; B. D. Sharma, S. Karthikeyan & N. P. Singh 1996 - Flora of Maharashtra state - Monocotyledons; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Pycreus pumilus. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)