Clustering palm climbing to 25 m. or more.. Stem without leaf-sheaths 0.7 cm., with to ± 1 cm. in diameter; internodes ± 15 cm. long.. Leaf-sheath longitudinally striate, unarmed, bearing sparse caducous scales; ocrea to 2 cm. long, truncate, unarmed.. Leaf including cirrus to 1 m. long; petiole absent or very short; rachis ± 4 mm. wide at the base, tapering to 2 mm. wide at the base of the cirrus, in lower part of leaf rounded abaxially, flattened adaxially, in upper part angular in cross-section, armed with numerous pale bulbous-based, black-tipped, reflexed spines, decreasing in number distally, usually absent from distal part of the cirrus; leaflets 9–14 on each side at maturity, arranged rather irregularly, tending to be paired distally, subequidistant near the base, the proximal 2 leaflets on each side occasionally much narrower than the rest, ± 6–9 × 0.4–0.7 cm., densely black spiny margined and reflexed across the stem; leaflets in mid-leaf 11–17 × 1.2–3.5 cm., cuneate, spathulate or ovate with a lop-sided, moderately to strongly praemorse tip, with margins ciliate-spiny throughout, concolorous; main veins subequal, ± 10 in number; transverse veinlets 1–2 mm. distant, moderately prominent, slightly sinuous; cirrus to 50 cm. long, armed with up to 7 pairs of reflexed acanthophylls. Juvenile leaf frequently broadly flabellate, up to 30 cm. long by 20 cm. broad, deeply notched, many-ribbed.. Inflorescence up to 35 cm. long; peduncle to 10 cm. long; rachillae distichous, ± horizontal, subopposite, ± 16 in all, glabrous, the lowermost ± 6 cm. long, decreasing distally.. Flowers borne in rather remote subdistichous pairs; calyx ± 3 mm. long, 3 mm. wide at the mouth, with 3 rather faint lobes; corolla ± 7 mm. long by 3 mm. wide, lobed in the topmost 3 mm.; stamens 6, borne ± 3 mm. below the apex of the corolla, anthers minute ± 0.6 mm. long; ovary ± 5 mm. long, with stigma to ± 2 mm. long at anthesis.. Fruit at maturity ovoid to almost cylindrical, tipped with the stigmatic remains, 2.5–3 cm. long, 1.5–2 cm. wide, with ± 20 vertical rows of dull brown reflexed scales.. Seed 2–2.5 cm. long, 1.1–1.5 cm. wide, 0.8–1 cm. thick, flattened on one face, with rather undulate margins; embryo lateral opposite the flattened face. Germination adjacent ligular.. Fig. 6.
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