A palm like plant 2-4 m high. The trunk is rough and dark brown. The trunk is 10-15 cm across. Trees lose their leaves during the year. Male and female trees are separate. The leaves are up to 1 m long and made up of 100 or more leaflets. These leaflets are stiff, flat and narrow. They are 7-14 cm long by 0.5-0.7 cm wide. The stalk has thorns below the leaflets. The male cone is oval and brown. It is 12-20 cm long. It is made up of many scales arranged like a spiral. It grows at the top of the trunk. The female spike is flattened and hairy. There are usually 4 fruit. The fruit are hard and round and 2-4 cm across. They are brown when ripe. There is a single seed inside.