Large evergreen trees to 60 m tall with reddish-brown, fibrous bark and a conical crown, monoecious. Lower trunk of older trees broad and often buttressed. Branchlets pendant, arrayed in flat sprays. Leaves glossy green, scale-like, opposite, overlapping, appressed against the flattened twigs. Pollen cones 1–3 mm long, reddish. Seed cones ellipsoid, 8–12 mm long, with 4 to 6 pairs of woody, overlapping scales, the top and bottom pairs sterile, maturing the first summer. Fertile scales with 2 seeds each (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).