This species is a massive, solitary stemmed, tropical fan palm. The costapalmate leaves are grayish green in color, can grow up to 3 meters wide, and are folded into pleats at the base of the leaf with distinct lobes in the upper half of the leaf. Leaves have very long, deeply divided, drooping leaflets. Petioles are orange to grey and armed with sharp teeth. While it may not get quite so large in cultivation, this palm still makes an impressive landscaping choice. The terminal inflorescence, which is formed after 50 to 80 years of growth, holds the record of being the world's largest flowering structure and produces literally millions of flowers and tens of thousands of seeds. The small fruit is olive green to black in color and has a fleshy wall when immature. As the fruit ripens, it becomes hard and fibrous. This species is monocarpic, meaning that the process of flowering and producing fruit will ultimately end the life of the tree.