Trees to 55 m tall; trunk to over 1 m d.b.h.; bark dark red-brown, thick, deeply and longitudinally fissured, scaly; winter buds brown, small, ovoid, not resinous. Needles 3 per bundle, slender, flabellate-triangular in cross section, 20-30 cm × ca. 1.5 mm, resin canals 2, median, base with persistent sheath 2-3 cm. Seed cones shortly pedunculate, ovoid, 10-20 × 6-9 cm. Seed scales oblong, thick, stiff; apophyses strongly swollen, conspicuously transversely ridged; umbo triangular, protruding. Seeds 8-12 mm; wing ca. 2.5 cm. Seed maturity Oct-Nov.

A rare plant in China. The timber is used for construction, furniture, etc., and the trunk as a source of resin.

Mountains; 2100-2200 m. S Xizang [Bhutan, N India, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim]