Picea asperata var. ponderosa Rehder & E. H. Wilson; P. gemmata Rehder & E. H. Wilson; P. ponderosa (Rehder & E. H. Wilson) Lacassagne; P. retroflexa Masters.

First-year branchlets red- or yellow-brown, not glaucous, glabrous or slightly pubescent. Leaves not glaucous, slender, apex acute or subacute. Seed scales entire, rarely slightly denticulate.

* Mountains, river basins; 2400-3600 m. E and S Gansu, N Ningxia (Helan Shan), Qinghai, SW Shaanxi, Sichuan