Cyperus bulbosus is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of sedge

Cyperaceae

Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...

 found across Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. In the latter it is commonly called (Australian) Bush Onion or "wild onion

Wild onion

Wild onion can refer to* any uncultivated species in the genus Allium, especially:**Allium bisceptrum** Allium canadense** Allium validum** Allium vineale* Cyperus bulbosus* Bulbine semibarbata...

", but is not related to the onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

 or other alliaceae

Alliaceae

Allioideae is the botanical name of a monocot subfamily of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. It was formerly treated as a separate family, Alliaceae...

. It is a component of Australian bushfood

Bushfood

Bushfood traditionally relates to any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by the original inhabitants, the Australian Aborigines, but it is a reference to any native fauna/flora that is used for culinary and/or medicinal purposes regardless of which continent or culture it originates...

 but is considered an agricultural weed

Weed

A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...

 in other areas.

Description

C. bulbosus is perennial and rhizomatous, with fine grassy foliage and triangular culms characteristic of the family. The inflorescence is rarely branched and consists of a cluster of spikes of reddish brown bracts, eventually producing small three-sided seeds.

The small tuber

Tuber

Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...

s which form on short stolons are a traditional bush tucker food for Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

. They are dug up on creek banks when the grass of the onion has dried out. The husk can also be eaten. They are eaten raw or cooked in the hot earth by the fire.

Cultural significance

Its name in the Arrernte language of Central Australia

Central Australia

Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

 is Merne yalke. In a neighbouring language, Kaytetye

Kaytetye

Kaytetye is the name of the Indigenous Australians who live around Barrow Creek and Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Their neighbours to the east are the Alyawarre, to the south the Anmatyerre, to the west the Warlpiri, and to the north the Warumungu....

, it is called Erreyakwerra. Some Kaytetye, the Kwerrimpe women, have a bush onion Dreaming

Dreaming (spirituality)

The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating....

 which involves the bush onion and the origins of the Kaytetye people and language. This means they have been given stories of the origins of the bush onion, and are entitled to tell these stories and paint about them. Artists who have painted bush onion dreaming include Nora Andy Napaltjarri

Nora Andy Napaltjarri

Nora Andy Napaltjarri is a Warlpiri– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. like her mother Entalura Nangala, Nora has painted for Indigenous artists' cooperative Papunya Tula...

 and her sister Ada Andy Napaltjarri

Ada Andy Napaltjarri

Ada Andy Napaltjarri is a Warlpiri– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ada was born near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, and has lived in several Northern Territory communities...

.

Agricultural pest

Outside of its range in Australia, it is often considered an agricultural pest. For example, it is found as a weed in rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

culture.