Cyperus fuscus Brown Galingale

Cyperus fuscus flower
©Simon Williams/Plantlife

A small rush-like plant with little brown nutlets on its triangular stems.

It usually grows in damp mud, typically on the edges of dried-up ponds or ditches.This species is restricted to the warm southern counties of England, and has always been rare.

In 2003, a Plantlife-led restoration resulted in the re-appearance of up to 10,000 plants at a Surrey pond . It now grows at seven sites in England and one in the Channel Islands.

It is mainly threatened by pond or wetland drainage, habitat neglect leading to scrub overgrowth, changes in the water table and water pollution.

Globally Threatened, classified as Vulnerable in Britain and protected by Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.