Caryota monostachya Becc.

Stems clustered, with few stems per cluster, to 3 m tall, 2-4 cm in diam. Leaves borne almost all along stem; petioles 80-150 cm; rachis 1-2.5 m; primary pinnae 4-9 per side of rachis; secondary pinnae 5 or 6 per side of secondary rachis, with scarcely jagged margins and short apices. Inflorescences borne among leaves, to 1 m; rachillae 1-3, 30-40 cm; male flowers to 17 mm; sepals 3-5 mm; petals purple to maroon, ca. 17 mm; stamens 60-75; female flowers to 8 mm; sepals 3-5 mm; petals 5-8 mm. Fruits brownish purple, globose, to 3.5 cm in diam.

It is a tropical plant. It grows in lowland rain forests often on limestone soils below 1,400 m above sea level. It grows in Yunnan in China.

The fruit are eaten raw and also boiled and eaten.