Cyrtostachys renda is a slender and clustering palm with about 3 or more adult stems that can each grow up to 15-20 m high. The stems are about 6-10 cm in diameter with internodes of 15-25 cm long and green with greyish stripes or yellow with somewhat greenish and purplish stripes. Its crown assumes a shuttlecock appearance with 7-10 leaves. The fruits are ellipsoid to ovoid and turn from light green to black when ripe (Heatubun et al., 2009).

This palm is a popular ornamental plant attributed to its bright green stems and striking red to orange crownshaft. It is only found to the west of the Wallace’s Line, occurring in the southern part of Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Naturally, Cyrtostachys renda grows in lowland peat swamp forests, especially in coastal areas (Heatubun et al., 2009). The genus Cyrtostachys is named after its curved inflorescence (in Greek, kyrtos and stachys mean curved and spike, respectively) (NParks Flora & Fauna Web, 2020)