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| Characteristics | Yellow nutsedge | Purple nutsedge |
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| 1. Scientific name | Cyperus esculentus L. | Cyperus rotundus L. |
| 2. Common names | Chufa, coquillo, yellow nutgrass, Northern nutgrass, nutsedge,
earth almond, groundnut, tigernut, zulu nut, rush nut, duck potato, edible rush | Nutgrass, cocograss, mustaka, musta, motha, coquillo |
| 3. Life cycle | Perennial | Perennial |
| 4. Growth habit | Graminoid | Graminoid
| | 5. Basal leaves | Three ranked | Three ranked |
| 6. Leaves | Flat, slightly corrugated, usually as long or longer than flowering stem | Flat, slightly corrugated, usually shorter than flowering stem |
| 7. Leaf color | Light green | Dark green |
| 8. Leaf width | 4-9 mm | 3-6 mm |
| 9. Leaf tip | Abruptly tapered, very pointed, pinched together | Long attenuated, keeled |
| 10. Flowering stem | Triangular | Triangular |
| 11. Stem height | Up to 0.9 m | Up to 0.4 m |
| 12. Flower color | Yellowish-brown, gold-brown or straw color | Purple to reddish brown |
| 13. Flower size | 5-30 mm long, about 2-3 mm wide | 8-25 mm long, about 1-2 mm wide |
| 14. Tubers | Round, unevenly globe-shaped, 0.3-1.5 cm in diameter, brown to black, hard, hairless,
smooth (scales shed with maturity),
with buds only at apex, formed at ends of whitish rhizomes |
Irregularly shaped, oblong to nearly round, up to 2.5 cm long, usually less than 1 cm thick,
covered with persistent reddish or reddish brown papery scales or hairs, with buds scattered on the surface,
tubers in chains, wiry rhizomes |
| 15. Tuber taste | sweet, almond-like | bitter |
| 16. Rhizomes | Terminate with a tuber, break easily; not connected among
plants | Develop chains of up to 15 tubers at intervals of 5-25 cm
along their length; interconnected among plants |
| 17. Uses of plants | Wetland restoration, mitigation, and erosion control |
Carminative and energy and hormone regulating herb in traditional Chinese medicine; landscaping
in China |
| 18. Uses of tubers | Edible, earthy-almond flavor | Medicinally in China and India; tuber extracts may reduce nausea and act as a muscle relaxant |
| 19. Reproduces | Primarily by tubers | Primarily by tubers |
| 20. Climate | Temperate to tropical | Tropical to warm |
| 21. Habitat | Disturbed soils, wide range of soil types; margins of lakes,
rivers, streams, and marshes; riparian | Disturbed soils, moist fertile soil, full sun |
| 22. U.S. distribution | All states, excluding Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska, and
including Hawaii and Puerto Rico | All Southern states, most Southwestern states, a few other northern states, plus Hawaii and Puerto Rico |
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