Cyperus papyrus

Native to Africa and northern Israel, it is an aquatic sedge that forms dense clumps in swamps and along lake margins. Stout creeping rhizomes anchor the plant, and its leaves are reduced to sheaths near the bases of the stems. Each tall stem ends in a dense cluster of fine green rays that spread outward and droop as they lengthen. Small brown flower clusters develop at the ray tips and produce numerous tiny dark fruits. The pith inside the stems was used to make papyrus sheets in ancient Egypt, while the stems also supplied material for mats and baskets. Photographed in Bogotá, Colombia.