Plants may grow up to 3,7 m high, the pseudostem may be up to half the height with a swollen base of up to 2,5 m in circumference at the base. The leaves are bright green in on both sides with a deeply grooved and short petiole. The leaf sheaths are persistent at the base and leave closely set scars on the corm. The fruits are slightly less than 8 cm long and more or less triangular with dark brown seeds. The upper parts of the plant die out during the dry season leaving the corm, which forms new leaves at the beginning of the monsoon.