江边刺葵 jiang bian ci kui

Stems clustered (solitary in cultivated plants), 1-3 m tall, to 10 cm in diam., straight or twisted, rough with persistent, diamond-shaped leaf bases. Leaves to 2 m; sheath and petiole to 50 cm; rachis 1-2 m; acanthophylls ca. 12 per side of rachis; pinnae 25-50 per side of rachis, linear, regularly arranged and spreading in same plane, with persistent scales on abaxial surface of midrib; middle pinnae 20-40 × ca. 1.5 cm. Male inflorescences pendulous, 30-60 cm, with to 20 rachillae, these 7-20 cm; female inflorescences erect, to 35 cm, with to 50 rachillae. Fruits orange-brown or purple-brown, obovoid, to 1.8 × 0.7 cm; endosperm homogeneous.

Scattered localities on rocky riverbanks or cliffs, sometimes with stems submerged, especially along the Lancang Jiang and Nu Jiang, at low elevations. Yunnan [Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].

This species is widely planted as an ornamental.