Trees to 70 m tall; trunk to 1 m or more d.b.h.; bark dark gray-brown, minutely scaly and flaking; crown broadly pyramidal; 1st-year branchlets green (drying red-brown), shiny, faintly whitish bloomed, glabrous; winter buds red-brown, cylindric-obovoid or cylindric-conical, slightly resinous. Needles 5 per bundle, pendulous, slender, triangular in cross section, (6-)11-18(-20) cm × ca. 1 mm, soft, adaxial surface dark green, vascular bundle 1, resin canals 3, adaxial 2 marginal, abaxial 1 always median. Seed cones pendulous, pedunculate (peduncle 2.5-4 cm), cylindric, straight or curved, 10-30 × 3-4 cm (5-9 cm wide when open), resinous. Seed scales cuneate-obovate, 3-5 × 2-3 cm at middle of cone; apophyses shiny, often glaucous, rhombic, slightly thickened; umbo dark brown, slightly projecting, apex obtuse, obviously incurved. Seeds brown or black-brown, ellipsoid-obovoid, 3-9 × 4-5 mm; wing 1-3 cm × 8-9 mm. Pollination Apr-May, seed maturity autumn of 2nd year.
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An evergreen tree. It grows 22-36 m high and spreads 6-12 m wide. It can be 70 m tall. The trunk can be 1 m or more across. The crown is cone shaped. The first year branches are green and shiny with a faint white bloom. The leaves are blue-green. The needles are arranged in groups of five. They hang down. They are 11-18 cm long by 1 mm wide. They are soft. The cones are banana shaped. They hang down. They are 10-30 cm long by 3-4 cm wide. They are 5-9 cm wide when open. The seeds are brown or black. They are oval and 3-9 mm long by 4-5 mm wide. The wings are 1-3 cm wide and 8-9 mm thick.
It is a temperate plant. It is frost hardy. In China it grows in the mountains in the temperate rainforests between 1600-3300 m altitude in Yunnan. It suits hardiness zones 6-9. Arboretum Tasmania. Hobart Botanical Gardens, Launceston city Park, Kyneton Botanical Gardens.
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Mountains, temperate rainforests; at elevations from 1,600-3,300 metres in China. The dominant species in drier areas, it is also found in secondary forest in wetter areas; at elevations up to 3,900 metres, .
Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.
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