Close clustering feather-leafed palm to 18 m tall, diameter 5-8 cm. Crown shaft a brilliant reddish-orange to vivid scarlet, smooth. Leaves 1.2-1.5 m long on short petioles, petioles and rachis are the colour of the crown shaft. Inflorescence red, growing just beneath the crown shaft, sparsely branched with whip-like branches. Fruits c. 13 mm across, globose ripening black.