The Footstool Palm is a plant native to Southeast Asia, specifically the Philippines, Malaysia (Sabah), and Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, Java). This species is now widely cultivated as an ornamental plant globally in tropical and subtropical countries. It is a very popular landscape plant due to its attractive leaf shape and decorative fruits. The species is also frequently harvested from the wild for local use as a food source, medicinal plant, timber, and source of other materials. Functionally, its leaves can be used for thatching roofs, ship sails, food wrappers, fans, sun hats, and traditional Filipino raincoats. Its trunk can also be used as house posts, house flooring, and its hard wood is used by Filipino communities to make walking sticks. As a food source, its shoots are highly valued as a vegetable, but removing the shoots can cause the plant to die. This plant has been classified as 'Least Concern' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2009). Medically, the Footstool Palm is believed by local communities to have good health benefits and can traditionally treat various ailments. For example, the Benguet community in the Philippines has applied its leaves as a poultice to treat fresh wounds.

The Footstool Palm can be found abundantly in swamp forests, seasonally dry swamp forests, mangrove fringes, rainforests, secondary forests, moist evergreen forests, and along rivers, at altitudes up to 300 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.). This species can only be cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates because it cannot tolerate temperatures near freezing, except for very brief periods. The Footstool Palm prefers a sunny location but also does well in shade with some direct sunlight, though young specimens require partial shade. Its growth is ideally suited to fertile loamy soil, but it can adapt to various types of well-drained soil, including clay and sand, with soil pH that is either alkaline or acidic. This species also prefers evenly moist media but not consistently wet conditions. The Footstool Palm is quite damage-resistant but intolerant of strong winds.

• Root (Akar) Fibrous root.

• Stem (Batang) Single trunk, straight, smooth, slender with a diameter of about 20–25 cm, brown color, bearing prominent leaf scars, and covered with beautiful grayish woven fibers in the upper part, below the crown. It is topped by a crown of 20–50 leaves.

• Leaves (Daun) Palmate (fan-shaped compound leaves) arranged spirally, with a leaf blade that is nearly circular like a fan, medium to large size, shiny green, divided into many linear, stiff, lobed segments, which become more divided with age. A spiny petiole (at the base of the underside surface in young plants) supports the leaf blade, is long, and slightly curved.

• Flower (Bunga) Small, yellow color, bisexual. The inflorescence is long-stalked, about 0.9–1.2 m long, divided into 3 main axes that bear up to 4 branches. The flower panicles are creamy-colored.

• Fruit (Buah) Seeded fruit, small, globose (round) to subglobose shape, about 11–25 mm in diameter with a very thin layer of flesh. The fruit is bright orange-red to red and turns black when ripe.

• Seed (Biji) Hard and round, brown color.

• Propagation is done through seeds. Fresh seeds, if kept warm, can germinate easily within 2 months after sowing. The flowers are pollinated with the help of bees.

• Treats fresh wounds and diarrhea. It possesses antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

• Saponin, phlobatanin, tanin, antrakuinon, cardiac glycosides, terpenes, alkaloid, flavonoid, deoxysugars, fenol.