I found this Papyrus growing in a ditch at Nags Head.  Yep, that Papyrus, the plant that the Egyptians used to make paper.  It is beautiful, and it really surprised me to see it growing there.  I cut three stems and put them in a vase on the picnic table for the weekend.  

 

OK, when I looked it up in my Exotica book, I found that it is NOT papyrus, but in the same family: Cyperaceae.  Papyrus is Cyprus papyrus, and this plant is Cyprus strigosus.  So, same genus, different species.  Like the difference between the Trout sisters:  same genus, (Trout) but different sisters: Linda, Betsy, Gerry, and Julie.  

 

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it:    Cyperus papyrus, papyrus sedge, is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a  native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water.  Papyrus sedge (and its close relatives) has a very long history of use by humans, notably by the Ancient Egyptians—it is the source of papyrus paper, one of the first types of paper ever made. Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. It is now often cultivated as an ornamental plant.

 

 

So you can see they are very similar, and now you know the difference.  Well, I am going to keep calling this Papyrus, because I can remember that.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!