Clustering feather-leafed palm to c. 20 m tall, 60 cm diameter. Leaf crown shaped like a gigantic shuttle cork before flowering. Leaves large, erect, over 6 m long, longest leaflets 1.5 m long. Leaf sheath, petioles and rachis can sometimes be spiny. The stem produces a single massive inflorescence in its lifetime; the terminal inflorescence can be up to 7.6 m tall with upward-thrusting primary branches and secondary branches. Fruits are the size of base-balls, light brown and covered with large, over lapping scales.