Nirvishi / Whitehead Spike Sedge
Kyllinga nemoralis
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir & more
- Flowering
- June-November
How to identify Nirvishi
Identify Nirvishi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Common lawn weed, white flower heads.
- Confirm flower colour: White/pale green.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: June-November.
- In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Cyperaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Nirvishi.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Kyllinga nemoralis
- Genus
- Kyllinga
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Waste places, degraded forest areas and grasslands
- Native to
- Pantropical
- Distribution
- Cosmopolitan
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- June-November
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Cyperaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- White/pale greenrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Nirvishi itself; the rest are typical of the Cyperaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Nirvishi
- Bengali
- কিলিঙ্গা নেমোর্যালিস, সাদা কদমঘাস, সাদা নির্বিষী
- Tamil
- Velutta Nirbasi
- Telugu
- Gandala
- Malayalam
- Velutta Nirvasi, വള്ളിമുത്തങ്ങ
- Sanskrit
- Svetanirvisa
About Nirvishi
Whitehead spike Sedge (Kyllinga nemoralis) is a herb in the Cyperaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and 2 other states. It grows in waste places, degraded forest areas and grasslands. Flowering and fruiting run from June to November.
Cyperaceae
Sedge family
Nirvishi belongs to the Cyperaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Cyperaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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