Expert: Long Island Gardener - 3/30/2011

Question
I wondered where the seed for this plant is at on the plant.  Can you start it from seed or does it take getting a cutting from it.

Answer
Your Cyperus papyrus 'King Tut' aka 'Egyptian Papyrus' -- known also as Cyperus percamenthus -- is a fast-growing, low-maintenance, fine looking foliage plant 2 to 3 feet tall, a dwarf version of the species that reaches 6 feet.  It is one of those exotics on the horizon, like a penny stock with a bright future.  Hardy only to Zone 9, where it encounters brushes with basic freezing temperature of 32 degrees F, it was praised as a Fine Gardening Magazine 2008 Trial Garden Recommendation.

Grass-like plants such as this, hailing from tropical bogs, such as this cannot grow from cuttings; you must plant seeds, like you would with any other Grass, or purchase plants and divide at the roots as they multiply.  It grows not in the ground but in pots or in the family fishpond, its central crown just barely skimming the water's surface. This is one of those rare plants that loves water, although it must not be immersed.  True to its Egyptian heritage, it will also thrive in the garden above-ground, and although does best when kept moist, will survive handily through Sahara-like summer drought.

One visitor to Fine Gardening Magazine's website described her experience with this plant: 'If Dr. Seuss and Martha Graham got together and designed a plant, it might look like King Tut grass.' Here's the URL with some basic FG care tips:

www.finegardening.com/plantguide/cyperus-papyrus-king-tut-papyrus.aspx

To obtain seeds, allow the plant to flower, and remove seed clusters as they form -- high off the ground near the tips of the long, slender blades.  Take care not to harvest prematurely; they must be thoroughly seasoned, certainly not before the end of the Summer, as they would be in the wild, growing on the banks of the Nile.  Mature seed clusters are mahogany-brown.

When sowing, just press Seeds into saturated Soil and allow for as much light exposure as possible.  These Seeds need sunlight to germinate.  They also germinate best under conditions that provide varying -- not constant -- temps, specifically 77 to 86 degrees F.  Sprouting percentage actually decreases if you hold the temperature constant, even within that 77-86 degree F window.  Why? One team of Cyperus-studying scientists theorized, 'Alternating temperature may soften the seed coat, consequently allowing gaseous exchange for metabolism and easy radicle penetration.'  (Factors affecting gerination and emergence of Cyperus difformis L. seeds, by B.S. Ismail, M. Noriza and M.R. Motior, Malaysian Applied Biology, June 2007.)

Regardless, this is a wonderful plant with enormous possibilities in the modern garden, so worth the effort.  Thanks for writing,

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER