sentences:  The leaves have 5 (sometimes as many as 9) longitudinal veins and are often curved or sickle-shaped.The flowers are cream, white or greenish-white and are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering, sometimes on the sides of branches or in the upper leaf axils.Each spike is up to in diameter, up to long and contains between 7 and 22 groups of flowers in threes.