The tree is an evergreen in the family Pinaceae, with a height of up to 40 m, and a conic (when young) to broadly tabular shape. The shoots are dimorphic, with long shoots and short shoots. The leaves are needle-like, spaced out on the long shoots, and in clusters of 15-45 on the short shoots; they are 5-30 mm in length, quadrangular in cross-section, and vary from green to glaucous blue-green with stomatal bands on all four sides.The cones are produced often every second year, and mature in 12 months from pollination; mature cones in October are 8-11 cm long and 4-6 cm wide, resinous, and break up to release the winged seeds through the winter. The seeds are 15 mm long, 6 mm broad, with a triangular wing 20-25 mm long. First cone production typically begins when the tree is 20-40 years old.
