Caryota urens is an evergreen, flowering, solitary, perennial feather palm with an erect habit and pendulous fronds. This palm does not develop a crown shaft. Grows around 10m tall with a 6m spread and a stem diameter of up to 50cm. The bipinnate leaves are triangular in shape, bright to deep green, 3.5 m  long, and held on 60 cm long petioles.

The obdeltoid pinnae are 30 cm long with a pointed edge and a jagged edge. Noted as reaching 16m tall in its native habitat. In relatively fast-growing, at a rate of 1-1.5m p/a for the first five years, showing down thereafter.