They are native to Western Samoa, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Moluccas, the Carolines and Fiji in a variety of habitats, and cultivated westward to Thailand and Malaya.

The trunks of Metroxylon species are solitary or clumped and large to massive in size, and usually sprout aerial roots at leaf-scar rings.

The petioles are distinguished by "groups of small black spines resembling the record made by a seismograph as it registers a mild tremor".

The monocarpic species present a Christmas tree shaped inflorescence, or instead, upward-reaching branches spreading horizontally.

[5] The fruit, covered in tough shiny scales arranged in precise rows, are relatively large for palms and contain one seed.