Stems to 5 m tall. Leaves 110-150 cm long, moderately keeled (opposing pinnae inserted at 100-130° on rachis), with 140-250 pinnae, mid-green, semi-glossy. Petiole 32-39 cm long, unarmed or spinescent for up to 15% of length. Median pinnae 14-19.5 cm long, 6.5-7.5 mm wide, narrowed to 3-4 mm at base (to 45-65% of maximum width), inserted at 50-70° to rachis, 8-11 mm apart, glabrous; margins slightly recurved; midrib flat above, raised below. Cataphylls narrowly triangular, soft, 6-8 cm long. Pollen cones ovoid, 40-46 cm long, 12-14 cm diam., brown. Microsporophyll lamina 46-56 mm long, 12-16 mm wide; apical spine 8-10 mm long. Megasporophylls 13-20 cm long, with 2-8 ovules; lamina lanceolate, 60-75 mm long, 20-28 mm wide, regularly dentate or obscurely dentate with 28-46 lateral spines 0-7 mm long and 1-2 mm wide; apical spine 25-40 mm long. Seeds 32-37 mm long, 28-32 mm wide.
Grows in grassy understorey of eucalypt forest with Corymbia novoguinensis , C. tessellaris and Erythrophleum chlorostachys. This forest is relatively moist, and often forms a mosaic with mesophyllous forest, in shallow sandy soils over massive laterite.
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