Monoecious tree, 5-20 m tall; trunk solitary or clustered, 10-15 cm diam, the internodes ca 20 cm long, densely armed with spines to 10 cm long. Leaves irregularly pinnate, to 3 m long; rachis 2 m long or more, sparsely armed; leaflets to 120 pairs, in clusters of 4 each, stagger-angled, 50-60 cm long, ca 3 cm wide, sparsely short-pilose on underside of veins, the margins entire or very sparsely setose, the cross-veins prominent. Inner spathe woody, less than 70 cm long, finely tomentose and armed with spines ca 1 cm long; spadix 30 cm long above branches; peduncle unarmed; rachis short; rachillae 25-30, minutely ferruginous-puberulent, 20-30 cm long, densely flowered, the pistillate flowers interspersed among the staminate ones, often associated with staminate flowers in triads, the flowers subtended by short distinct bracteoles; staminate flowers white, 4-5 mm long, broad and flat at apex, puberulent as on rachillae; petals 3, stout, concave, acute at apex; floral envelope truncate; 8-10 mm long, ca 9 mm wide, the flowers weakly sunken. Fruits orange-red, ovoid, to ca 5 cm long; seed 1. Croat 11798, 14479.