Solitary, or rarely clustered, slender, smooth trunk to 10 m (33 ft.) tall. Its circular fan-shaped leaves, are dark green above, and beautifully silvery below, with an 8" diameter trunk, covered in a woven thatch of fibers. Fan leaves are 5 feet wide, and form a beautiful circular shape, with the leaflet segments being divided almost all the way to the hastula. Leaflets are rigid when young, and only slightly pendent when older, the undersides showing a silver coating.