Chelyocarpus is a type of small to medium-sized, single or multi-stemmed palms with fan shaped leaves.

Individuals have between 10 and 20 leaves with circular blades, the lower surface of which is usually whitish in colour.

Trithrinax Itaya Sabinaria Chelyocarpus Cryosophila Schippia Thrinax Leucothrinax Hemithrinax Zombia Coccothrinax The name Chelyocarpus is derived from Ancient Greek and means "turtle carapace-fruited", a reference to cracked surface of the fruits of the genus, which resemble the shell of a turtle.

[1] In the first edition of Genera Palmarum (1987), Natalie Uhl and John Dransfield placed the genus Chelyocarpus in subfamily Coryphoideae, tribe Corypheae and subtribe Thrinacinae[4] Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that the Old World and New World members of Thrinacinae are not closely related.

The woolly covering of the leaf sheaths of C. dianeurus are used to stuff pillows, and salt is extracted from the trunks of C. ulei.