ຫວາຍບອງເອິ / Rattan Palm

Description. Stems solitary, climbing, to 50 m long and 5 cm diameter. Leaf sheaths green or pinkish-brown, with sparsely to densely arranged,  sometimes in short rows, brown, flattened, to 1 cm long spines, these  with sinuous, hairy margins initially; ocreas short, densely bristly; knees  present; flagella present, to 5.6 m long; petioles short or absent; rachis to 1.4 m long with 8-15, broadly lanceolate leaflets per side, these regularly  arranged, sometimes irregularly, especially near base of leaves, minutely bristly on the margins; cirri absent. Inflorescences to 3 m long, flagellate;  bracts tubular; fruits ovoid to ellipsoid, to 2.5 cm long and 1.5 cm  diameter, yellowish-brown. Distribution and habitat. Northern Laos and northern Vietnam in lowland evergreen or montane forest at medium elevations often on limestone soils (also in Bhutan, China, northeastern India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand). Flowering and fruiting. Flowers March. (M. Peters & A. Henderson, 2014).