This species is a stately solitary palm native to several countries across southeast Asia.  Its slender gray trunk is covered with leaf scars.  It has a dense crown of large, flat, dark green circular leaves that are shallowly split.  Petioles may reach up to 6 feet long and are armed with short recurved spines.  The branched inflorescence produces small greenish cream colored flowers.  Small, oval shaped fruit turns bluish purple as it ripens.  The species is named after Major Francis Jenkins, a botanist and a British Commissioner for the Assam province of India in the 19th century.  Jenkins is credited with first collecting a specimen of this species in 1836.