"Plants suckering, the pseudostem 3 - 4 m. tall, slender, waxless, green with variable rusty-brown shade near the base ; juice watery; petioles slender up to 40 cm long, deeply grooved above with erect and slightly infolded margins, tightly clasping at the base ; leaf-blade 2 m. long and 40 cm. wide, being attenuated towards the apex, obtuse at the top, often unequal at the base ; inflorescence at first horizontal, 5 - 7 basal hands female, distal hands male, peduncles and rachis puberulous ; female flowers about 10 per bract in two rows ; male axis pendulous, slender ; male bud oblanceolate-oblong, acute, the bracts imbricate and outermost being about four-fifths of the whole length of the bud ; male bracts deciduous, brownish crimson, shining with a polished appearance, lanceolate-oblong, about 8 cm. long, 3 cm. wide, obtuse or sometimes abruptly retuse, persisting after the subtended flowers have dropped, reflexed but not strongly rolled back ; male flowers about 10 - 12 per bract in two rows, the compound tepal 3.5 cm. long, minutely 5-toothed at the apex, outer lobes 2.5 mm. long, acute with short dorsal appendage, the free tepal 2 cm. long, 0.8 - 1.0 cm. wide, elliptic or oblong elliptic, rotundate or bittenly [sic] truncate, reddish purple near the midrib and the basal part, the stamens 5, with anthers 1.8 cm. long and filaments 1.2 cm. long, the sterile style 3.5 cm. long, with ellipsoidal stigma ; fruit bunch horizontal, about 6 hands of 10 fruits each ; mature fruits 8 - 9 cm. long, 1.6 cm. in diameter at the middle, the pedicel 1.8 cm. long, apical appendix 7 - 10 mm. long and with abruptly truncate broad apex ; seeds numerous, compressed obovoid with distinct small umbo at the top, covered with many tubercles, about 4 mm. long and wide".

(Hotta 1967).