Clustering feather-leafed palm to 18 m tall, c. 30 cm diameter, stem covered with long downward-pointing black spines. Crown pale green; leaves 3.6-5.4 m long, spreading, stiff, barely arching; leaflets regularly arrange. Inflorescence growing below the crown shaft, much branched. Fruits are globose, ripening black, c. 1.7 cm diameter.