Cryosophila warscewiczii

This palm grows between 3 and 10 metres tall. It has a thin, typically solitary trunk, covered in white spiny roots.

Cryosophila warscewiczii has palmate leaves that are roughly circular in shape. The top of the leaf is often a glaucous green while the underside is even paler. The leaf petioles are spiny, especially toward the bottom of the stem.

The flowers grow in clusters on the inflorescences at the leaf axes and are protected by a persistent fibrous spathe.

Male flowers are small (3 to 5 mm) and have whiteish stamens. Female flowers are larger (6 mm), globular, and smooth (hairless).

The fruits are small, round, non fleshy drupes (8 to 15 mm), which start out pale green and turn creamy white or grey when ripe. The fruits have small, ovoid seeds (6 to 10 mm) that are smooth in appearance and pale or medium brown in colour.

Though they can grow very tall, palms are herbaceous plants. Unlike trees, they do not undergo secondary growth and cannot produce wood (which allows the trunk to thicken).