It reaches 20 m in height, and a trunk of 6 dm in diameter. It is a helix palm, with leaves with bare petiole, ending in a set of numerous leaflets. Each leaf is 1.5-2 m long, with 40-60 leaflets 8 dm long. Flowers white yellow, 5 mm, in long compound panicles 25 dm long, extending below the leaves. Black drupe fruit 1 cm long with a single seed. It is extremely salt tolerant, growing near the Atlantic Ocean coast, and also cold tolerant, surviving short periods of -14 °C temperatures.