This is a solitary palm with a slender, smooth trunk. It bears a green to slightly waxy crownshaft, which contrasts nicely with its darker leaf bases. The crown holds bright green leaves with narrow, gracefully arching leaflets that are slightly paler on the undersides. Its inflorescences emerge beneath the crownshaft, branched to one order, and produce small cream-colored flowers. The fruit is ovoid, turning from green to red at maturity. An interesting historical note: the species name litigiosus references the dispute among botanists over its proper generic placement.  Drymophloeus litigiosus was originally described by Odoardo Beccari in 1877, who placed it in the genus Pinanga (naming it Pinanga litigiosa). Later, other botanists, notably Carl Ludwig Blume and subsequent Dutch botanists working in the Moluccas and New Guinea region, argued that its floral and fruit structures were closer to Drymophloeus than Pinanga. The point of contention was its inflorescence branching and fruit morphology — features that didn’t quite fit the classical Pinanga description.  Eventually, consensus shifted toward recognizing Drymophloeus as a valid, distinct genus (separate from Pinanga and Areca), and the species was reclassified as Drymophloeus litigiosus. The epithet litigiosus — meaning “disputed” or “litigious” — reflects this back-and-forth debate among taxonomists.