Stems solitary, smooth, with conspicuous nodal rings. Leaves ca. 5 m. Fruits 3.0--3.5 cm, ovoid, yellowish orange; endocarp ovoid, brown, with 3 germination pores. 2n = 32.

Flowering throughout the year. Disturbed hammocks and woodlands; ca. 0--30 m; Fla., introduced; Fla.; native, South America.

Syagrus is tenuously represented in the flora by the cultivated ornamental S. romanzoffiana, still known in the nursery trade as Cocos plumosa. This South American species is widely planted throughout much of southern and central Florida. Although it is not yet widely established in the flora, seedlings volunteer in natural areas, and mature plants persist after cultivation. A closely related ornamental palm from South America, Butia capitata (Martius) Beccari, jelly palm, is widely grown in the southeastern United States and crosses with Syagrus romanzoffiana, producing ´ Butyagrus nabonnandii (A. R. Proschowsky) Vorster, largely sterile hybrids. Butia shows little inclination for escaping.