Large tree to about 40 m tall. Buds about 3 mm long, pale purple, resinous. Shoots green to red-brown, ridged, slightly hairy at first. Leaves variable, mostly 30-55 mm long, essentially 2-ranked, those arising from the top of the shoot shorter than the others, 2 whitish bands below, tips notched. Cones 5-10 cm long, tapered at both ends.
Grows naturally in mountains, sometimes by streams and in moist ground on the coast.
W North America.
Young shoots greenish becoming brown. Similar to A. concolor but with mostly shorter leaves that are notched at the tip, dark shiny green above and with a pungent smell like citrus when crushed, those on upper side of shoot much shorter than those below and more or less parted both above and below.
NSW: Mt Tomah (Bot. Gds); Mt Wilson ('Cherry Cottage'; 'Yengo' ptd c. 1887); Sydney (Bot. Gds). VIC: Mt Macedon ('Alton'; old Taylor & Sangster Nursery site).
Source: (1995). Pinaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.