Trees to 40 m tall; trunk to 1.2 m d.b.h. in native range, usually with adventitious sprouts; bark red-brown, plates scaly with evident resin pockets; crown rounded-conical; 2nd-year branchlets greenish brown or red-brown, aging red-brown or gray, slender, to 5 mm in diam., roughened and cracking below leafy portion; winter buds red-brown, ovoid or cylindric, resinous. Needles 2 (or 3) per bundle, gray- or yellow-green, straight, slightly twisted, (5-)7-11(-13) cm × ca. 1 mm, stomatal lines present on all surfaces, base with persistent sheath 0.5-1(-1.5) cm. Seed cones solitary or clustered, subsessile or shortly pedunculate (peduncle to 1 cm), red-brown, aging gray, ovoid-conical when open, 4-7 cm, maturing in 2 years. Seed scales lacking contrasting dark border adaxially distally; umbo with an elongated or stout and short, sharp prickle. Seeds gray or nearly black, ellipsoid, ca. 6 mm; wing 1.2-1.6 cm.

This tree is very fast growing and is highly valued as a source of timber and wood pulp. It is also a promising species for afforestation.

Cultivated. Fujian (Minhou Xian), Jiangsu (Nanjing Shi), Zhejiang (Fuyang Xian) [native to SE United States]