Licuala poonsakii Hodel.

Solitary or caespitose palm, usually with one, up to 5 m tall stem, suckering at the base, 3–5 cm diam. covered by leaf sheath remnants distally. Leaf sheath 30–40 cm long, with ligule up to 15 cm long in young leaves; petiole 80–150 cm long, basal 1/4 with up to 4 mm long spines; lamina divided in 9–11 segments; mid segment with 9–11 adaxial ribs, 40–55 cm long, the remaining segments decreasing gradually in width towards the base, here with 3–4 adaxial ribs, 30–45 cm long; indentations of mid and lateral segments leading to the adaxial ribs c. 1 cm long, those leading to the abaxial ribs c. 0.5 cm long, indentations of basal segments more irregular. Inflorescence 1–1.5 m long, with 5–7 unbranched partial inflorescences; peduncle 20–30 cm long; prophyll 20–30 cm long, loosely fitting, splitting irregularly to tattering apically; peduncular bract lacking; rachis 80–120 cm long; proximal rachis bracts 25–29 cm long, tubular, loosely fitting, inserted up to 40 cm below the divergence point of the partial inflorescence subtended; basal partial inflorescence 8–15 cm long, displaced above or hidden inside subtending bract, strongly zig-zagged to straight, narrowly diverging from rachis, densely covered with felt-like indumentum of stellate hairs. Flowers up to 40–60 on longest rachillae, solitary rarely in pairs, sessile, subtended by c. 0.6 mm long, sparsely hairy, deltoid bracts; buds 7–9 mm long, bullet-shaped, often with a more or less oblique base; Calyx to 7 mm long on longest (abaxial) side, basally covered with patches of ferruginous ramenta, to striate distally when dried, with 3 obtuse to rounded lobes up to 0.5 mm long; corolla c. 6 mm long, with minute ferruginous ramenta on exposed parts, erect at anthesis, yellow-greenish on lower 3/4 and brown distally; androecium 2.5–3 mm long, fused to corolla for 1–1.5 mm, filaments to 1 mm long, narrowly deltoid; anthers elongate, 2.2–2.4 mm long, pointed apically; ovary c. 1.5 mm long, obovoid, tapering distally, locules in lower 1/2 to 3/4; style slender, c. 1.5 mm long, stigma amidst the anthers. Fruit 0.9–1.2 cm diam., globose.