A tree up to 150 ft high in the wild, with a trunk 12 ft in girth; winter buds slightly resinous; young shoots not downy, slightly grooved, yellowish grey. Leaves 3⁄4 to 13⁄4 in. long, not notched at the tip but bluntish or abruptly pointed there; shining dark green above with the two stomatic bands beneath inconspicuously marked. Cone cylindrical, 4 to 5 in. long, green at first, pale brown when mature; bracts hidden.
Native of Manchuria and Korea; introduced to the United States from the latter country in 1905. E. H. Wilson, who saw it not uncommonly 100 ft in Korea, ranked it with A. homolepis for beauty as a garden tree, but in this country it has not lived up to his expectations and remains very rare. There are two trees at Westonbirt, the larger 44 × 31⁄2 ft (1963); and three at Borde Hill, Sussex, the largest 61 × 33⁄4 ft (1968).