[1] They are native to the Maluku Islands, Sulawesi, and New Guinea[2] where they grow near rivers and in forest clearings up to 900 m in elevation.

Thought to contain only one species, in 1994 it was recognized to have two; P. elata and P. filaris,[2] both of which are among the fastest growing palms.

These dioecious palms have green, solitary trunks with widely spaced leaf scar rings.

The trunks grow to 45 cm in diameter and 35 m in height; the leaf crown is hemispherical, or nearly so, with 6 m pinnate leaves on robust, 2 m petioles.

The fruit ripens to a yellow-orange drupe, covered in scales and containing one seed.