Medium-sized tree (sometimes very large in cultivation), pyramidal at first, with broad crown when mature. Bark thick, reddish brown beneath, often becoming whitish on surface. Adult foliage in dense, dark green masses, aromatic when bruised; branchlets systems not flattened. 1-3-year shoots terete, reddish brown, with lvs appressed except for the cuspidate, pungent, c. 1 mm long apex. Lvs on ultimate twigs uniform, 1-2 mm long, broadly rhombic-ovate, tightly appressed, obtuse or subacute. ♂ strobili 1.5-3 mm long, broad-oblong to subglobose. Mature ♀ cones very shortly stalked or sometimes subsessile, (1.5)-2-3.5 × (1.2)-1.5 × 3.2 cm, subglobose or broadly oblong-ellipsoid, shining brown; scales 8-14; umbo with small, obtuse, crescent-shaped process; seeds usually 10-20 per scale, of irregular shape, with small resinous tubercles.