the leaves are 100-150 cm long, bluish or silvery and strongly keeled. the spine is sometimes twisted in a spiral and the upper part is clearly curved. the lanceolate leaflets, 15–20 cm long, are arranged on the rachis in the opposite way, at an angle of 45-80º; the margins are whole and smooth, although the leaflets of the basal part of the leaf can be equipped with a single spine in the lower margin.