Originally in Australia from the land bridge created 45,000 years ago by the receding ocean levels during the last glacial, the probable 'native' environment in prehistory was Indonesia. It grows in or near rainforest in coastal districts, mostly in moist sites beside creeks and on alluvial flats. While able to grow in full shade, A. cunninghamiana grows better in sunlight. Its fronds do not create a nesting environment for insects or macrofauna like rodents, so are tolerable tree for urban environments. In Kampala, Bangalow palm can be found within Makerere university, Uganda Golf course club, National housing & medical quarters, at Impala avenue, Buganda road among other places.

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana is a tall graceful large sized palm that can grow over 20 - 25 m in height. It can also grow up to 30 m in its native habitat. It has a prominent crownshaft and arching fronds up to 4.5m long with many leaflets, giving it an attractive feathery appearance and its fronds shed and fall off automatically.

BARK: The trunk is undivided of a uniform diameter, smooth and ringed, although thinner and with more widely spaced rings. It has visible leaf scars and may be slightly swollen at the base.

LEAVES: The crown is leafy with leaves which are bright-to-dark green on both surfaces. They are compound, deciduous, unarmed and pinnately divided, 3–4 m long, with 80–100 pairs of segmentsthat are up to 1 m long; segments linear, 60–90 cm long, 3–8 cm wide, petiole 20–25 cm long, sheathing base 60–90 cm long. The base of the petioles forms a greenish-yellow to brown crown-shaft that the leaves rarely droop below. The fronds are a dark glossy green on the upper surface and a lighter green underneath and shed and fall off automatically.

FLOWERS: The inflorescence carries small lilac flowers on creamy branches, Inflorescence is monoecious. Inflorescence is 1–1.5 m long; spikes 50–80 cm long; panicle of 30 - 40 cm long. Flower color is violet; stamens 9–18. Once emerged, inflorescence hangs 1 - 1.2 m below the crown shaft. Staminate flowers are 6 mm, pistillate flowers are 4 mm.

FRUIT: Fruit globose, 13–15 mm diameter, red in color.

Ornamental palm.

Leaf bases can be used as water carriers.