Stems multiple, brown, to 7 m, covered in tardily deciduous leaf bases. Leaves: petiole strongly (rarely weakly) armed; hastula present on adaxial surface. Inflorescences exceeding leaves, appearing secund because of pendulous rachillae, 15--22 cm, orange in fruit. Fruits ripening from green through orange to black, globose, 7.5--8.5 mm diam. 2n = 36.

Flowering spring--summer. Thin, rocky soil over limestone in hydric hammocks, wet savannas, and swamps of Everglades; of conservation concern;

Little is known about this palm in its natural habitats. In Florida, it occurs in the Everglades National Park and is categorized as threatened by the state of Florida. Like Serenoa repens, Acoelorraphe is tolerant of occasional burning. It is probably bee-pollinated, and the seeds are dispersed by birds (G. Galeano-Garcés 1986).