Botany
Rhizomes are woody and horizontal, usually short, or sometimes up to 5 cm in length. Stems are tufted, rigid, growing upwards, 4- to 5-angled or obscurely flattened, 10 to 20 cm long. Leaves are usually short but sometimes as long as 1.5 cm in length. Umbels are compound or decompound, about 8 mm in diameter, with 20 to 30 clusters. Spikelets are clustered, 2 to 5 in a cluster. Glumes are ovate. Nut is as long as one-third of the glume, obscurely striate or non-striate.

Distribution
Limited distribution in the Philippines.
Occurs in India to Indo-China.

Parts used
Roots.

Uses
Folkloric
Santals are reported to use the roots in dysentery.

Studies
• Essential Oil: Study of essential oil from the rhizomes of Fimbristylis falcata (Vahl) Kunth yielded more than 40 constituents. The major constituents were: camphor, cyperene, thymol, spathulenol, dehydroabietal and dehydroabietol.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Chemical composition of the essential oil from Fimbristylis falcata (Vahl) Kunth. / Shah G, Mathela C / Journal of Essential Oil Research 2009 Vol. 21 No. 6 pp. 553-554