A study of the ontogenetic stages of the acaulescent palm Attalea humilis Mart. ex. Spreng was conducted in three fragments (1.6, 6.4, and 9.9 ha) of the Atlantic forest in southeastern Brazil. The fragments were damaged by fire during the study period (1996-1999). External macromorphology and quantitative measures of leaf number and length of the newest leaf's rachis allowed the distinction of five ontogenetic stages. Seedlings were attached to buried fruit remains and presented entire leaves. Juveniles possessed incomplete segmentation of the blade. Pinnatifid-leafed, non-reproducing individuals were morphometrically divided in two groups: immature, with fewer leaves and smaller but highly variable youngest leaf length, and virginile, with more and larger leaves, but more constant youngest leaf length; the critical crown size by which immature and virginile stages could be identified varied according to fragment and year. Reproductive palms bore identifiable reproductive structures. Seedlings, juveniles, and immatures had fewer leaves than virginile and reproductive individuals. Leaf length was similar between seedlings and juveniles but increased in later stages. The characteristics of each stage were fairly constant throughout the study years in the three fragments and were little affected by fire, indicating that the stages we define in this study are important in the developmental program of A. humilis.Key words: stage-structured populations, ontogenetic stages, forest fragments, fire, leaf size, leaf number.