The doum palm is a dioecious palm and grows up to 17 m high. branches dichotomously and has tufts of large leaves at the ends of the branches. The bark is fairly smooth, dark grey and bears the scars of fallen leaves. The petioles (leaf stalks) are about a metre long, sheathing the branch at the base and armed with stout upward-curving claws. The leaves are fan shaped. Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. The inflorescences are similar in general appearance, up to about 1.2 m long. The tree is native to the Arabian Peninsula and also to the northern half and western part of Africa