Corypha  

Solitary, hermaphroditic, hapaxanthic tree palms. Leaves induplicate, costa palmate; leaf sheath splitting to the base, shallowly disintegrating into fibres along the margins, later with conspicuous /\-shaped cleft below the petiole; petiole massive, deeply channelled above, margins with distinct teeth; adaxial hastula well developed, abaxial hastula somewhat irregular, blade regularly divided to half its radius into single fold segments, these further indented along the abaxial folds, adaxial folds of young leaves often terminated by filaments, transverse veinlets conspicuous. Inflorescences each subtended by bract-like leaves, gathered in a massive, terminal, composite flowering structure, individual inflorescences branched to the third order, prophyll bicarinate, rachis bracts tubular, rachillae with spirally arranged cincinni of up to 10 flowers. Flowers on short pseudopedicels formed by a fusion of the base of the calyx and the receptacle, stamens 6, the anteseplous ones free, the antepetalous ones shortly adnate to the petals, gynoecium 3-loculate, distinctly 3-grooved, with elongate style and inconspicuous stigmatic branches. Fruit globose, single-seeded, epicarp smooth, mesocarp fleshy, endocarp poorly differentiated, usually partly attached to seed coat. Seed with homogeneous endosperm.

Five species in Tropical Asia to Australia. Two species are indigenous in Thailand. A third species, C. umbraculifera L, which is native to Sri Lanka and South India has been introduced and is often seen associated with temple compounds and as a grand street tree. It can be distinguished from C. lecomtei by the absence of black bands on the petioles, and from C. utan by the absence of indumentum on the petioles and the presence of ear-like auricles at the base of the petiole.

Species of Corypha remain very poorly understood.