This plant typically reaches 20–150 centimetres (8–59 in) tall, growing from a short, white rhizome.

[5] As the only plant species known to use both pathways, it is an important model for the study of the evolution of photosynthesis.

[6] The species has been found in a polyploid series with diploid, tetraploid, hexaploid, octoploid and dodecaploid individuals.

[7] It is distributed across much of tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and Papuasia.

[1][8][9] The seeds of this species are an important component of the wet-season diet of many granivorous finches and parrots.