Habit: Herbs, shrubs or trees
Stems: terete or flattened on 1 side, swollen nodes
Leaves: alternate or basal, 2-ranked, simple, entire, basally sheathing with overlapping margins, ligulate, blades flat or absent
Vegetative terminology:
- roots are adventitious
- hollow internodes
- ligule--flap of tissue at the juncture of the leaf blade and sheath, strap-shaped
- auricles--ear-shaped lobes on the leaf margin at the juncture of the blade and sheath