Licuala kunstleri Becc.

Solitary palm, acaulescent or with short stem no more than 1 m tall. Stem 4–7 cm diam. Leaf sheath 20–35 cm long with ligule up to 20 cm long in young leaves; petiole up to 200 cm long, basally with unevenly sized, irregularly spaced and up to 0.3 cm long spines; lamina divided in 11–19 unequally wide segments; mid segment with 14–16 adaxial ribs, 30–65 cm long, the remaining segments with 1–2 adaxial ribs, the basal ones 24–30 cm long; indentations of mid segment shallow, those of the remaining segments leading to the adaxial folds deeper, up to 2.5 cm. Inflorescence 20–70 cm long, with 2–4 partial inflorescences; peduncle 10–20 cm; prophyll 12–26 cm long, splitting cleanly along one side or in many places for 1–2 cm; peduncular bract lacking; rachis bracts up to 12 cm long basally; partial inflorescence unbranched or rarely with up to three rachillae, basally contained in the tubular rachis bract; rachillae 4–12 cm long. Flowers up to 60 on one rachilla, solitary or in pairs, on prominent 1–2 mm long pedicels, floral subtending bract triangular, inconspicuous; bud c. 0.5 x 0.3 cm, turbinate; calyx 0.15–0.2 cm long, loosely enclosing corolla in dried specimens, sparsely covered with golden hairs, membranous and striate, apically truncate to irregularly split; corolla 0.3–0.4 cm long, densely covered with simple golden hairs, lobes up to 0.2 cm long erect at anthesis, creamy white; androecium 0.2–0.25 cm long, staminal ring c. 0.2 mm high, filaments shortly subulate; anthers reniform, c. 0.5 mm long; ovary 1.5–2 mm long, cylindrical, glabrous, rounded apically, style 1.5 mm long, overtopping the anthers at anthesis. Fruit globose, c. 1 cm diam.