Cyperus Papyrus Botanical Illustration With Labels

All 9 parts on the diagram

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The plant 4

Umbel The flower head. Its stalks all start at one point.
Culm (stem) The upright stem of a sedge. It has three sides and no leaf blades.
Rhizome A thick, woody stem that creeps through the mud. The culms rise from it.
Roots They grow down from the rhizome and anchor the plant.

Head and stem 5

Rays The thread-like stalks of the umbel. Flower clusters form at their tips.
Bracts Short leaf-like parts in a ring under the head.
Spikelets Small spikes of tiny flowers. Each flower sits behind a scale.
Rind The firm outer layer of the stem. Paper makers peeled it off.
Pith The soft middle of the stem. Strips of it became sheets of papyrus.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) Flora of North America vol. 23, Cyperus papyrus, read at efloras.org, http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242357697 : rhizomatous; culms roundly trigonous, 300 to 500 cm; leaves bladeless; rays, drooping or arching, slender; bracts; spikelets with floral scales; achenes; paper prepared from the pith of the culms. (2) Britton and Brown, An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, 2nd ed. 1913, vol. 1, the genus Cyperus (public domain), https://archive.org/details/illustratedflora01brit : culms triangular; leaves at the summit forming an involucre to the umbellate inflorescence; rays of the umbel; spikelets composed of scales, the flowers behind them; achene. (3) Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. 1911, Papyrus (public domain), https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Papyrus : a main root lying horizontally with smaller roots pushed down into the mud; the stem triangular and tapering; the tufted head or umbel; a cellular pith within the rind; the stem cut into longitudinal strips for the writing material. (4) North Carolina State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Cyperus papyrus, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cyperus-papyrus/ : a sedge of swamps and shallow water in Africa; triangular stems or culms; a head of thin rays and elongated bracts; flower clusters at the ends of the rays; thick woody rhizomes; numerous woody roots that anchor the plant. (5) Wikipedia, text only, Cyperus papyrus and Papyrus, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyperus_papyrus , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus : 4 to 5 m high; triangular stems from thick woody rhizomes; thread-like rays; the outer rind removed and the pith cut lengthwise into thin strips, laid in two layers at right angles. The Wikipedia description follows the extension and garden pages, so (4) and (5) count as one source for the plant; each name stands on two of (1), (2), (3) and that pair. For the answer on sedges and grasses, read on 2026-10-03: the key of (2) (Gramineae, culms mostly hollow; Cyperaceae, culms solid) and Wikipedia, Poaceae, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae (grass culms usually cylindrical, not 3-angled, and hollow). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry; own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Papyrus is a tall sedge of swamps and shallow water in Africa. The first drawing shows the whole plant. The second enlarges its head and cuts the stem across.

Read the full guide

A three-sided stem and a round head

Each stem, called a culm, rises from a thick rhizome in the mud. It has three sides and no leaf blades, and can stand 4 to 5 meters tall. The head is an umbel: thin rays that all start at the tip of the culm, with a ring of bracts under them. Small spikelets of flowers form at the ray ends.

From stem to sheet

Inside the firm rind the culm is soft pith. In ancient Egypt the pith was cut lengthwise into strips, and the strips were pressed into sheets for writing.

The quiz takes stem for culm, and head for umbel.
Print blank gives the same two drawings with empty rings to fill in.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a papyrus plant?

Roots, a thick rhizome, and tall three-sided stems called culms. Each culm ends in an umbel: a ring of bracts and many thin rays with spikelets of flowers at their tips. Inside the stem's rind is the pith.

Which part of the papyrus plant was used to make paper?

The pith, the soft middle of the stem. The outer rind was taken off and the pith was cut lengthwise into thin strips, which were laid side by side and pressed into a sheet.

Does papyrus have leaves?

Not ones you would notice. The tall stems carry no leaf blades. The thin threads at the top are the rays of the flower head, and the short leaf-like parts under them are bracts.

Is papyrus a grass?

No. Papyrus is a sedge, of the sedge family. Its stems are three-sided and solid, where a grass stem is usually hollow.