Micronesian Names by Island or Island Groups:Te maunei Kiribati

Description: Cyperus laevigatus is a perennial creeping sedge that grows up to 60 cm (24 in) tall and sometimes forms in clumps interconnected on a horizontal, relatively long, thick rhizome. Its stems (culms) are smooth and tufted. The flowers are produced in a tight umbel consisting of a small array of cylindrical spikelets with one to three leaflike bracts at the base of the inflorescence; the spikelets can vary in color from greenish or reddish to dark brown. Cyperus laevigatus “can be distinguished from all other New World species of Cyperus by its two stigmas and disclike, strongly flattened achene, which is borne with its face toward the rachilla” (see Tucker et al. vol. 23:164). It flowers throughout the year. As noted previously, the genus Cyperus derives its name from the Latin ‘cyperos’ which, in turn, is derived from the Greek 'kypeiros', an ancient Greek name used by Homer and Theophrastus for several plants of this genus. The epithet (specific name) laevigatus is derived from the Latin word meaning smooth or polished, referring to the smooth and shiny stems.

Distribution: Cyperus laevigatus is a generally widespread sedge species found across the tropics and sub-tropics of the world, but reportedly not widely distributed in the tropical Pacific region (e.g., see Stemmerman 1981:39). C. laevigatus grows in wet areas and is commonly found in shady, sandy places on the edge of rivers and ditches. It forms reed beds in swamps, often in brackish water areas, and commonly near seashores and saltmarshes.

Some uses beyond Micronesia: The rhizomes of C. laevigatus are reportedly used medicinally, e.g., as a diuretic with its “pastes” taken for kidney problems (Gupta and Juffe Bignoli 2013), also see Simpson and Inglis. 2001). In the Hawaiian Islands, where this plant is known traditionally as “ehuawa”or “makaloa,” fine, highly-valued mats were woven on the island of Ni’ihau using stem fibers from this sedge, and its stems were also utilized to strain the psychoactive drink extracted from the rootstock of Piper methysticum (a shrub species cultivated and used customarily on some islands in Micronesia, e.g., on Pohnpei where it known as Sakau and now consumed widely,and on Kosrae where it is known as Seka and formerly used openly).

Uses in Kiribati: According to Luomala (1953:94), Cyperus laevigatus was fairly common on the lagoon side of Tabiteuea Atoll and regarded as indigenous in Kiribati. Luomala described this sedge species as “about 12 to 15 inches high, with one to several short flower spikes at a point on one side of the tip of the stem,” and commented that it “is burned to perfume women’s grass dance-skirts” in Kiribati (Luomala 1953:94). Catala (1957:91) referred to the use of the fibrous stems of C. javanicus and C. laevigatus in graceful skirts (riri), fishing lines, nets, etc. in Kiribati. Moul (1957:9) noted the common presence of C. laevigatus in abandoned Giant Swamp Taro (Babai) pits on Tabuarorae Islet of Onotoa Atoll of Kiribati where “the roots and rhizomes of the plants” held the soil firmly in place; Moul also referred to the former use of C. laevigatus on this atoll “for weaving.”