Each stem is topped with a dense tuft of slender, drooping leaves.

The leaves have white spines that are densest near the upper bit of the leaf, and darker and rarer lower down.

This species is also distinguished by its oblong fruit-heads, appearing first erect and then drooping.

Each fruit-head is packed with uniseriate rows of long, narrow drupes.

[2][3][4] It is endemic to Mauritius, and isolated individuals can still be found in thickets in the highlands.