Evergreen geophytic herb; rhizome condensed, creeping, bearing thick subtuberous roots. Leaves very tough, few to several together, distichous, not differentiated into petiole and blade, linear, conduplicate, to c. 1.5 m long, mostly 1–1.5 cm wide; margin and midrib somewhat and finely erose-dentate; venation parallel to midrib, usually 1 thick tough primary vein on each side and 1 or more of lesser thickness. Inflorescence compound, an alate peduncle to c. 3 m tall bearing distant flattened bracts, the upper ones with 1 or more sessile or shortly stalked spikelet-like synflorescences in its axil; synflorescence perennial, a condensed sympodium consisting of repeated units composed of prophyll, cataphyll and spadix, each unit arising in axil of previous cataphyll; spathe absent; spadices often in several stages of maturity at once in each synflorescence, stipitate, at first with flowers crowded, later elongating and by male anthesis the flowers somewhat distant. Flowers bisexual, tetramerous, tepalate, greenish, later becoming dark brown. Stamens with flattened filaments. Ovary unilocular, uniovulate with apical placentation. Fruit an ovoid blue-black berry.
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