It grows to 25m in height and up to 12m in width. When young it has a conical shape but as it matures it becomes broader with a flattened top. It has bark that is silvery-grey, becoming thickened, with deep cracks as the tree ages. The needle-shaped leaves are grey-green to mid-green, but sometimes bluish-green and they are attached singly to long shoots and in dense cluster of 20-30 on short shoots. The cones are cylindrical, 7–10 cm long and green when young but maturing to a pale brown when they shed their scales and winged seeds.