Tiger Nut, Yellow nutsedge, Nut Grass
Cyperus esculentus
Family: Cyperaceae
What it is like
Cyperus esculentus is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.9 m (3ft) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 8. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist or wet soil.
Height (m): 0.9
Where it is found
Muddy soil and shallow water, also as a weed of cultivated ground in southern Europe.
Original range is obscure, the plant is a widespread weed from the Tropics to the Temperate zone.
Conservation Status: Cyperus esculentus (Yellow Nutsedge): Status: Least Concern
Countries/locations it is found in
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia Botswana, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, British Columbia, Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Shandong, Yunnan, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, CÙte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia (Republic of), Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
How it is used
Food
Rating: 4
Tuber - raw, cooked or dried and ground into a powder.They are also used in confectionery. A delicious nut-like flavour but rather chewy and with a tough skin. They taste best when dried. They can be cooked in barley water to give them a sweet flavour and then be used as a dessert nut. A refreshing beverage is made by mixing the ground tubers with water, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla and ice. The ground up tuber can also be made into a plant milk with water, wheat and sugar. An edible oil is obtained from the tuber. It is considered to be a superior oil that compares favourably with olive oil. The roasted tubers are a coffee substitute. The base of the plant can be used in salads. (This probably means the base of the leaf stems)
Oil: Oil
Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.
Coffee: the various substitutes that can be used instead of coffee.
Medicine
Rating: 2
Tiger nuts are regarded as a digestive tonic, having a heating and drying effect on the digestive system and alleviating flatulence. They also promote urine production and menstruation. The tubers are said to be aphrodisiac, carminative, diuretic, emmenagogue, stimulant and tonic. In Ayurvedic medicine they are used in the treatment of flatulence, indigestion, colic, diarrhoea, dysentery, debility and excessive thirst.
Aphrodisiac: Increases the sexual appetite.
Carminative: Reduces flatulence and expels gas from the intestines.
Digestive: Aids digestion.
Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.
Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.
Emmenagogue: Promotes or increases the menstrual flow. In early stages of pregnancy it can induce an abortion.
Stimulant: Excites or quickens activity of the physiological processes. Faster acting than a tonic but differing from a narcotic in that it does not give a false sense of well-being.
Tonic: Improves general health. Slower acting than a stimulant, it brings steady improvement.
Other
Rating: 3
The tubers contain up to 30% of a non-drying oil, it is used in cooking and in making soap. It does not solidify at 0°c and stores well without going rancid. The leaves can be used for weaving hats and matting etc. The boiled nuts are used in the UK as a bait for carp.
Oil: Vegetable oils have many uses, as lubricants, lighting, soap and paint making, waterproofing etc. This does not include the edible oils unless they are also mentioned as having other uses.
Weaving: Items such as grass and palm leaves that are woven together for making mats, baskets etc. See also Basket making and Fibre.
How it is grown
Prefers a moist sandy loam. Plants are hardy to about -15°c. The chufa, or tiger nut, is often cultivated for its edible tuber in warm temperate and tropical zones, there is a cultivated variety, var. sativus, that produces larger tubers. We have had lots of problems with growing this cultivated form. Once the tubers come into growth then they normally grow vigorously, but the difficulty is getting them to come into growth. We harvest the tubers in the autumn and store them in moist sand, replanting them in the spring. However, they rarely come into new growth until mid to late summer which gives them too short a growing season to produce much of a crop. We need to find a satisfactory way of storing the tubers and exciting them back into growth. In warmer climates this plant is a serious weed of cultivation. It is much hardier than was once imagined and is becoming a weed in N. America where it is found as far north as Alaska. The tubers are often formed a metre or more away from the plant, especially if it is growing in a heavy clay soil. The tubers are extremely attractive to mice and require protection from them in the winter.
Propagating it: Seed - surface sow in the spring and keep the compost moist. The seed usually germinates in 2 - 6 weeks at 18°c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle. Grow on for their first winter in a greenhouse and plant them out in late spring after the last expected frosts. Division in spring or autumn. This is more a matter of harvesting the tubers and replanting them. If this is done in the autumn, then it is best to store the tubers in a cool frost-free place overwinter and plant them out in the spring.
Best place to grow: Bog Garden; Cultivated Beds;
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: 8-10
Growth: Fast
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Moist, wet
Things to keep in mind
Listed in the USDA Plants-database as a noxious weed in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. C. esculentus behaves as a weed in almost all temperate, tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Once established, it is extremely difficult to eradicate because plants have a stratified and layered root system, with tubers and roots being interconnected.
Its other names
Local names
Rush nut; tiger nut; yellow nut-grass; yellow nut-sedge; yellow sedge. Spanish: chufa comun; horchata; horchata de chufa. French: amande de terre; souchet comestible; souchet sucré; souchet tubéreux. Chinese: xiang fu zi. Portuguese: junquinha mansa. Angola: olonguesso. Argentina: chufa. Brazil: chufa; junquinho; tiririca; tiririca-amarela. Colombia: conquito. Cuba: chufa. Dominican Republic: coquillo; coquito. Germany: erdmandelgas; Essbaress zypergras. Iran: galee. Italy: cipero dolce; dolcichino; ulvia di padule; zigolo dolce; zizzola terrestri. Japan: syokuyo-gayatsuri. Mexico: cebollin; coquillo amarillo; cotufa; coyolillo; coyolito; peonia; tule; tulillo; zacate de agua. Netherlands: aard-amandel; knolcypergras. Peru: coco. Puerto Rico: chapas. South Africa: geeliuintjie. Thailand: haeo-thai.