Trees to 26m; trunk to diam., straight to contorted; crown conic, becoming rounded. Bark gray, nearly smooth, cross-checked in age into scaly plates and ridges. Branches spreading to ascending, often persistent to trunk base; twigs pale red-brown, puberulous (rarely glabrous), slightly resinous, aging gray, smooth. Buds ovoid, light red-brown, 0.9--1cm, resinous; lower scales ciliolate along margins. Leaves 5 per fascicle, spreading to upcurved and ascending, persisting 5--6 years, 3-- ´ 1--1.5mm, pliant, dark green, abaxial surface with less conspicuous stomatal bands than adaxial surfaces, adaxial surfaces with strong, pale stomatal bands, margins finely serrulate, apex conic-acute to acuminate; sheath 1--1.5(--2)cm, shed early. Pollen cones broadly ellipsoid-cylindric, ca. 15mm, pale red or yellow. Seed cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, lance-ovoid before opening, cylindro-ovoid when open, 7--15cm, straw-colored, resinous, sessile to short-stalked, apophyses much thickened, strongly cross-keeled, umbo terminal, depressed. Seeds irregularly obovoid; body 10--15mm, brown, sometimes mottled darker, wingless or nearly so. 2 n =24.
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A soft pine. It can be 12 m high and the trunk 60 cm across. The tree can spread 6 m wide. The bark is smooth and pale grey when young. It becomes rough, dark brown and with wide scaly plates with age. The leaves are in clusters of 5. The needles remain on the tree for 5-6 years. The cones are narrowly oval and are 8-20 cm long. They have very short stalks and are at right angles to the stem. There are 40-70 scales which are slightly thickened at the tip. They are spoon shaped without prickles. They open on the tree at maturity to release the seeds. The cones are shed during winter.
It is a temperate plant. In Canada and the rockies it grows from 1000 m altitude to the tree line. It normally grows on dry, rocky, exposed slopes. It will grow on a variety of soils. It suits high altitude snow zones. Hobart Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 4-7. Arboretum Tasmania.
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High montane forests, often forming open forests in the sub alpine to alpine zones, often in semi-arid areas; growing at elevations from 1,500-3,600 metres. Usually found on dry rocky ridges and peaks.
Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.
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