It grows up to 20 metres (66 feet) tall, and, on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, up to 1.5 meters (4 feet 11 inches) thick^[2] (exceeded only by Borassus aethiopum and Jubaea chilensis) and bears palmate fronds 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) long. Like other palms of the genus Corypha, this species flowers once at the end of its lifetime (monocarpy), producing a massive inflorescence up to 5 m tall containing up to one million flowers.^[3]

It is distributed from the Assam region of India through Indochina, Malaysia, and Indonesia to the Philippines and New Guinea, and south to Australia's Cape York Peninsula^[3] and Arnhem Land.^[4] Growing along watercourses, floodplains and grasslands, the Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia write about the Corypha utan palms occurring in Cape York:

Corypha utan .. is undoubtedly one of the most imposing species in the Australian palm flora (with its massive pachycaul trunks and hapaxanthic flowering and fruiting extravaganza.^[5]

The starch contained inside the trunk is edible raw or cooked, as is the tip-top. The flowering stalks can be beaten to produce liquid. The nut kernels are also edible.^[6]

In Lamakera, its (ketebu) leaves are made into fibres weaved with sea hibiscus bark to make rope for whaling harpoons.^[7]

Locally known as buri or buli in the Philippines, the leaves of Corypha utan are widely used in weaving fans, baskets, and mats.^[8][9] Additionally, in Isla Verde, Batangas where this palm tree grows abundantly, Corypha utan sap is extracted, cooked and made into the sweet delicacy called "Pakaskas".^[10][11]