Anatomy of Yellow Nutsedge (<i>Cyperus esculentus</i>)

Abstract

Yellow nutsedge ( Cyperus esculentus L.) develops as a series of shoots, bulbs, and tubers connected by rhizomes. The leaves contain parallel, collateral vascular bundles with the majority of the chlorophyll-containing cells concentrated in two sheathing girdles around each bundle. The upper leaf surface consists of a single layer of large epidermal cells covered by a thick cuticle. Stomates occur primarily in the lower surface. The vascular bundles are collateral in the leaves and amphivasal in the rhizome, changing their anatomical arrangement as they pass through the basal bulb. Newly developing rhizomes and tubers are white and fleshy with a parenchymatous epidermis and cortex. Mature rhizomes are brown and wiry with a deteriorated outer cortex and a lignified inner cortex and endodermis. Tubers and bulbs form similarly at the rhizome apices with the tubers accumulating starch. The rhizome vascular system remains intact throughout the growing season.