This is a recently described palm based entirely on cultivated specimens.  Its full wild status remains a mystery until verified populations are found.  It is a massive solitary palm, with the original seed source believed to have come from Madagascar. It develops a stout, waxy trunk and an elongated crownshaft that may show pale green, yellowish, or slightly pink tones, sometimes with diagonal striping on the leaf sheath. The crown carries 8–10 very large pinnate leaves with regularly arranged, stiff leaflets, giving the palm a bold, architectural appearance. The inflorescence is infrafoliar, highly branched, and emerges with a striking bright crimson bract before expanding. The fruit is broadly ovoid with a smooth, somewhat pebbled surface, which is the key feature behind the species name laevis, meaning smooth. This species remains extremely rare and mysterious because it has not yet been confirmed in the wild,  Kew noted it was known from only three cultivated plants in Hawaiʻi and North Australia when highlighted among its 2018 discoveries.