Growing along the pavement and just inside a pasture fence at the corner of a large vacant lot, I realized that it seemed a little unusual for a plant like this to be growing in a location like that. But until looking at its pictures more carefully later, I didn't realize that it was even more unusual than I thought. This is a Flatsedge or Nutsedge (Cyperaceae family). The species, Cyperus esculentus, is a native perennial sedge that can be weedy and tends to inhabit cultivated fields in our area (or at least that's where it was initially found but now with cultivated fields largely gone in inhabited valleys, not commonly seen) and disturbed areas that are sufficiently moist.Common names for the species include Yellow Nutsedge, Yellow Nutgrass, Chufa Flatsedge and others.The species in general is not well-known in Utah and no one source accurately indicates its distribution here. Some sources have it in two counties, another has it in three. Presently/historically it is actually known from five counties in Utah:Davis, Grand, Salt Lake, Utah and Washington counties.An occurrence in Utah County however on the UVC campus in a wetland area has since been eradicated for athletic purposes. The Washington County occurrence was in an agricultural area near an historic home of Brigham Young in St. George. So, some of its Utah distribution may have involved it being moved around in the course of the planting of crops.When treated in the Intermountain Flora series in 1977, no varieties were recognized. Now there are four varieties recognized globally, three of which occur in the United States. And, two of those varieties in turn are known to occur in Utah, var. leptostachyus and var. heermannii.This plant I noticed here appears to be the rarer of the two varieties, var. heermannii which has a peculiar global distribution according to the Flora of North America as follows: California, Florida, Utah and Mexico.Var. herrmannii has erect-ascending and more densely clustered spikelets whereas var. leptostachyus has spreading spikelets mostly forming a 90 degree angle to the rachis and that are greater and more evenly spaced.It was very sunny at the time this picture was taken and I had intended to return to take some additional pictures and gather a stem or two in order to examine at it more closely; upon returning nine days later however the area had been completely mowed (both in the pasture and along the street) and no plants in the area were more than about six to eight inches tall and there was not even a hint of a spikelet much less a full inflorescence. They will however grow back, so maybe next time.August 18, 2014, Murray, Salt Lake County, Utah, along/near a paved road on 600 East, growing with mainly exotics such as the invasive Bermuda Grass, and with Trifolium pratense which is commonly introduced into pastures, elev. 4,290 ft., near one of the Big Cottonwood Creek drainages.
