Leaves arranged spirally; blade ovate-elliptical, 20-60 cm × 20-40 cm, base cuneate to rounded, margin entire or pinnatifid with 1-3(-4) pairs of lateral lobes, apex acute, almost glabrous above, pubescent throughout below, with about 12 pairs of secondary veins, stipules amplexicaul

Inflorescence capitate, solitary, axillary; numerous flowers densely packed together, embedded in the receptacle, the perianth enclosing a single stamen or ovary, mixed with abundant stalked interfloral bracts; male head cylindrical, 10-21 cm × 1-2 cm, on a 17-37 mm long peduncle; female head with bifid styles

Fruit an ellipsoid syncarp, up to 10 cm × 6.5 cm, yellow-brown, covered with flexuous, tapering, obtuse processes ('spines') 8-15 mm long, with rough, inflated hairs, with scattered interfloral bracts and with numerous non-fleshy fruiting perianths with free proximal region. Seed (pericarp) ellipsoid, 12 mm × 9 mm.