Stems large, solitary, gray, often leaning. Leaves 25-30, pinnate; leaf sheaths open, fibrous; pinnae linear, 1-veined, numerous, regularly arranged along rachis, spreading in same plane. Inflorescences branched to 1 order, borne among leaves, covered by a prophyll and woody, persistent peduncular bract; flowers unisexual, borne in triads at bases of rachillae, male only toward apices. Fruit large, 1-seeded; germination adjacent; eophylls undivided.

One species: widely introduced and cultivated throughout tropical areas of the world, especially along sandy coasts.