Mullumbimby Couch

Botanical name: Cyperus brevifolius

Common Names

Globe Kyllinga, Perennial Greenhead Sedge, Short-Leaf Flatsedge

Mullumbimby Couch Description

A long-lived grass-like plant with long underground runners and upright flowering stems up to 40 cm tall. Its upright stems are three-angled in cross-section and only 0.5-1.5 mm thick. Its bright green leaves (1-3 mm wide) are hairless and sheath the stem at the base. Its pale green seed-heads (6-7 mm long) have three or four green leafy bracts at the base and contain numerous small flower spikelets. Its 'seeds' are yellow to reddish-brown in colour and topped with a small projection 1-1.5 mm long.

SIMILAR SPECIES

Mullumbimby couch (Cyperus brevifolius) is very similar to kyllinga weed (Cyperus sesquiflorus ) and reasonably similar to slender sedge (Cyperus gracilis ). These species can be distinguished by the following differences:

- Mullumbimby couch (Cyperus brevifolius) produces underground runners and has pale green coloured seed-heads. These small seed-heads (6-8 mm long) are very compact and egg-shaped (i.e. ovoid).

- kyllinga weed (Cyperus sesquiflorus ) only grows in tufts and has pale whitish-coloured seed-heads. These seed-heads (6-12 mm long) are very compact and usually have a larger central egg-shaped (i.e. ovoid) spike with two smaller spikes at the base.

SCENARIOS AND SOLUTIONS:

• In garden beds: use Apparent Glyphosate and Apparent Glyassist.
• In buffalo lawns: use Apparent Bromoxynil + MCPA or Apparent Demolish.
• In couch & kikuyu lawns: use Apparent Halosulfuron.

Reference: https://weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au/weeds/mullumbimby-couch