A conical to columnar tree growing to about 25-35 m tall with long, pendulous branchlets. Bark purplish-grey furrowed into plates. Branches horizontal. Bud ovoid, 5-10 mm long, shiny with blunt scales, resinous. Leaves slender, mostly 3-4 cm long, pointed and dark green all around the shoot and pointing forwards. Male cones terminal on hanging branchlets, forming Jan-Feb. Female cones cylindrical, tapering at each end, mostly 10-16 cm long; scales smooth, shining, margin gently rounded, slightly woody. Seed 5-6 mm long with brown wing about 1.5 cm long.

Grows naturally in Himalaya Mts at alt. 2500-3600 m. Fairly commonly cultivated in cooler districts.

W Himalaya.

Pendulous branchlets; leaves slender, long, spreading round the stem; stout, long cones.

NSW: Mt Tomah (Bot. Gds); Mt Wilson ('Cherry Cottage' ptd c. 1877); Orange (near Bloomfield Hospital past Artisan Way intersection; Cook Park); Ournie (Jephcott Arboretum); Sydney (Royal Bot. Gds; ). VIC: Ballarat (Bot. Gds); Beechworth (Queen Victoria Park); Benalla (Bot. Gds); Dandenongs ('Pirianda'); Mt Macedon ('Alton', 'Cameron Lodge'); Malmsbury (Bot. Gds). TAS: Deloraine (Meander River Reserve); Hobart (Royal Tasmanian Bot. Gds); Launceston (Kings Park).

Source: Spencer, R. (1995). Pinaceae. In: Spencer, R.. 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.