An extremely distinctive and unusual, medium sized Copernicia, which has steep, wedge-shaped, circular leaves with sharp spikes that funnel into its center, giving it a very noticeable "shuttlecock" appearance, or a dense crown of stiffly erect, wedge-shaped leaves that stands out as an upward burst of green, and grey, from the surrounding vegetation. Old leaves persist on the trunk for a while, and form a brown skirt below the crown.