C. laevigatus. The chufa flatsedge (C. esculentus) has edible tubers and is grown commercially for these; they are eaten as vegetables, made into sweets, or used to produce the horchata of the Valencia region. Several other species – e.g. Australian bush onion (C. bulbosus) – are eaten to a smaller extent. For some Northern Paiutes, Cyperus tubers were a mainstay food, to the extent that they were known as tövusi-dökadö ("nutsedge tuber eaters") Priprioca (C. articulatus) is one of the traditional spices of the Amazon region and its reddish essential oil is used commercially both by the cosmetic industry, and increasingly as a flavoring for food. Interest is increasing in the larger, fast-growing species as crops for paper and biofuel production. Some species are grown as ornamental or pot plants, notably: Cyperus alternifolius syn. C. involucratus (umbrella papyrus) Cyperus albostriatus (dwarf umbrella sedge), formerly called C. diffusus) Cyperus haspan Cyperus longus Cyperus papyrus (papyrus) Some Cyperus species are used in folk medicine. Roots of Near East species were a component of kyphi, a medical incense of Ancient Egypt. Tubers of C. rotundus (purple nut-sedge) tubers are used in kampō. An unspecified Cyperus is mentioned as an abortifacient in the 11th-century poem . See also Amphoe Nong Prue, a district in Thailand. The name of its capital Nong Prue (หนองปรือ) literally means "Cyperus swamp". The sedge Carex pseudocyperus is a related plant convergent in appearance to Cyperus. References External links CYPERUS interactive identification key by D. M. Ferguson @ LSU Herbarium CYPERACEAE interactive identification keys @ LSU Herbarium Flora of China Vol. 23 Page 219, 莎草属 suo cao shu, Cyperus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 44. 1753. Flora of Pakistan, V. 206 Page 89, Cyperus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 44. 1753; Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 26. 1754; Boiss., Fl. Or. 5: 363. 1882; C.B.Clarke in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 6: 597. 1893; R. R. Stewart, l.c. 86. 1972; Kukkonen in Rech.f., Fl. Iranica 173: 85. 1998. Cords and a fishnet from Cyperus & Scirpus Freshwater plants Cyperaceae genera