Edible Portion: Seeds, Cereal, Husks - Oil
An annual grass with hollow stems. The stems can be 30 cm to 150 cm tall. (Floating varieties can be 5 m long.) The nodes are solid and swollen. The stem is protected by a skin layer which can often be high in silicon. A clump of shoots are produced as tillers from buds in the lower leaf axils. The leaves are narrow and hairy. They taper towards the tip. Each stem produces 10 -20 leaves and the seeds hang from the flower stalk at the top. Some varieties are glutinous and cling together when cooked.