It is a tall and stately palm. The trunk is stout, straight or gently curved, rising from a swollen base surrounded by a mass of roots. The leaves are pinnatisect. The leaflets are narrow and tapering. In the axil of each leaf is a spathe enclosing a spadix, which is orange-coloured, and simply branched. The palm is monoecious. The female flowers are relatively few and borne at the base of the panicle. The male flowers are numerous and borne towards the top of the panicle. The fruit is ovoid, three-angled, containing a single seed.

Anthelmintic, antiseptic, astringent, bactericidal, depurative, diuretic, purgative, refrigerant and stomachic as an emollient (oil extract) on the immune system, The milky juice is a refrigerant.

A "polysaccharide factor", ascorbic acid, ferulic acid, gaba, linolenic acid, P- coumaric acid.

In diseases of the uterus, cooling and diuretic (Immature fruit); in debility, incipient phthisis and cachetic affections (fresh milk); for a wide range of physical disorders including asthma, cold, constipation, dysentery, earache, erysipelas, fever, flu, gingivitis, gonorrhea, jaundice, rash, scabies, syphilis, toothache, tuberculosis etc.

Sharma, Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants.