Woody but brittle perennial climber attached by roots to trunks of forest trees or in large masses on ground. Stems c. 4 cm. diam., branched, marked with scars of old lvs. Lvs ± tufted towards ends of stems, spirally arranged, to c. 150 × 2–2.5 cm.; sheathing bases pale; tips long-attenuate, triangular in T.S.; margins, and midrib abaxially, minutely and distantly spinulose. Spadices simple and solitary in axils of several ± foliaceous bracts at stem apex; bracts thick and succulent towards base, white to purplish. Peduncle 1–4 cm. long, glab., whitish; spadix at fl. c. 7 × 1.5 cm., cylindrical or slightly flattened, the axis quite hidden by tightly packed fls. ♂ of several stamens each with a long filament, ovate anther and cop. ± confluent pollen surrounding a small rudimentary ovary; limits of individual fls not easily determined. ♀ with 6–12 purplish staminodes at base of flattened, vertically elongated ovary c. 2–4 × 1 mm. × 2 mm. tall, the long sides grooved between the staminodes; stigmas c. 6–12, sessile, arranged around a long groove; locule narrow, placentae forming ridges projecting into it. Infructescence to c. 15 × 3 cm. on stiff woody peduncle. Individual frs (phalanges) c. 8 × 2 × 10 mm., compressed laterally, thin-walled proximally, broadest c. ⅓ from base and almost woody towards top. Seed c. 1 mm. long, narrow, on long, slender funicle.
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A woody climber. It attaches to the trunk of trees by roots. It grows 30 m tall. The leaves are yellow-green. They are 150 cm long by 2-2.5 cm wide. They are crowded in bunches at the ends of the branched stems. The leaves are arranged in spirals. The male and female flowers are separate. The flowers have sweet smelling edible bracts. The female flowers are in cylinder shaped spikes. The fruit are yellowish berries. They are edible.
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