Trees evergreen; trunk straight; branches irregularly vertical; branchlets with slightly raised, circular leaf scars; short branchlets absent; winter buds ovoid or fusiform, not resinous. Leaves spirally arranged, ± linear, flattened, longitudinally grooved adaxially, stomatal lines abaxial, in 2 white bands, separated by an elevated midvein, vascular bundle 1, resin canals 2, sublateral, marginal, base ± twisted. Pollen cones axillary, solitary, cylindric; pollen not saccate, globose. Seed cones developing from axillary buds near ends of 2nd-year branchlets, solitary, pedunculate, pendulous, purplish red or green, maturing in 1st year. Seed scales variously shaped, convex, woody, margin rounded toward apex, persistent. Bracts well developed, exserted or included, 3-lobed, straight or reflexed, with a cusp longer than lateral lobes. Seeds borne in a shallow, membranous cup covering 1 side of seed, adnate to wing; wing obliquely ovate, short, covering only a small portion of seed scale. Cotyledons 5-8(-12). Germination epigeal. 2n = 24 (26 in P. menziesii).

Six species: China, Japan, W North America; five species (three endemic, two introduced) in China.