• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
AquaPlant
AquaPlantA Diagnostics Tool for Pond Plants and Algae
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Identify a Plant
  • Do I need a permit?
  • FAQs
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Online Courses
  • Get Help

Haspan Flat Sedge

Cyperus haspan

Haspan Locations in North America
Haspan Locations in Southeast US
sharp edge flat sedge


USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Illustration: USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 303.

What is Haspan Flat Sedge?

Physical Characteristics

Leaves:

  • Growing near the base of the plant
  • Lower leaves bladeless
  • Upper leaves with soft blades
  • 0.39-4 inches long

Flowers:

  • Flowering for the first year
  • 1.5-4.75 inches long
  • 10-15 stalks

Bracts:

  • Usually 2
  • One 0.3-2 times as long as the flower
  • One not noticeable

Spikelets:

  • 0.16-0.39 inches long
  • About 0.05 inches wide
  • Linear
  • Brown in color
  • 8-30 flowers

Fruit:

  • Dry
  • Does not open to release seed when ripe
  • Spherical or oval shaped
  • 3-angled
  • 0.02-0.03 inches long
  • About 0.02 inches thick
  • Whitish in color
  • Rough texture

Stem:

  • Hollow stems
  • 0.75-2.25 feet long
  • 0.08-0.2 inches thick near base
  • 0.06-0.13 inches thick below the flower
  • 3-angled
  • Soft
  • Easily pressed flat

Where Does it Grow?

Haspan flat sedge can be found in moist areas, along streams, in wet meadows, and on seepage slopes.

Pros and Cons of Haspan Flat Sedge

Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates.

How to Manage This Plant
Plant Glossary

2023 Aquatic Webinars

Apr. 18: Pond Stocking 

May 16: Aquatic Plant ID & Management Options

Jun 20: Fish Management Strategies

Email Subscription

Receive updates on upcoming webinars and newly published materials.

Sign Up Now

Search for a type of plant

Hire a Professional Contact Your Ag & Natural Resource Agent Aquatic Plant Nurseries Permissions and Citations Aquatic Herbicide Tables
Aquatic Vegetation ID Cards
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member

Photo Credits: The majority of the aquatic plant line drawings are the copyright of the University of Florida Center for Aquatic Plants (Gainsville). They are used with permission.

Aquatic plant photographs were provided by David Bayne, Jim Davis, Kelly Duffie, Billy Higginbotham, Michael Masser, John Clayton, Chetta Owens, Diane Smith, Joe Snow, Don Steinbach, Bridget Robinson Lassiter and Peter Woods.

You may use these photos, so long as you give credit to AquaPlant.

  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information