There are occasional specimens with only a few spines. A single stem may bear 5 or 6 clusters at a time. The skin is thin, the flesh yellow to light-orange, sweet, occasionally with a trace of bitterness, dry and mealy.
Some fruits are seedless.
Rarely one finds 2 fused seeds. This useful palm is apparently indigenous to Amazonian areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil, but it has been cultivated and distributed by Indians from ancient times and is so commonly naturalized as an escape that its natural boundaries are obscure. Of prehistoric introduction into Costa Rica, it is plentiful in a seemingly wild state of the Atlantic side of that country and also much cultivated. Every Indian dwelling has a patch of pejibaye palms. The palm has also been planted as partial shade for coffee.