I'm referring of course to Maize, Wheat, and Rice. What is it about this family that was so appealing for those picking out a plant to domesticate? Its not like they were in contact with each other and oculd be like "Yo, I picked Wheat and it rocks, you should pick Maize, its in the same family so I bet it'll be real good too" Esp considering I hear stories about how original wild maize had cobs no bigger than a finger, and it was only through the magic of selectively breeding that they became vast and bulbous like they are today.
Scifi story where the intelligent species on Earth isn't humans, mice, or dolphins, but Poaceae family plants. Corn, Rice, and Wheat chuckling to themselves as they get the land-apes to cultivate the 3D pupae stage of their species for them en-masse, meanwhile filtering out all of the radio signal proof of their vast space empire to keep the humans in the dark.
So what's a corn chip or a rice cake in this context?
Your individualistic understanding fails to grasp the vast bulbous collective nature of the Poaceae family.
I'm thinking it's some kind of discarded larval shell before they're mature enough to elude human comprehension. Still thinking it through.