A beautifully shaped large tree, growing up to 20 m tall with dense branching. The crown is broad oval although it can become irregularly round on older trees. The thick, mature bark is grey-brown and deeply grooved revealing the light brown-yellow bast. The German name Schlangenhaut-Kiefer refers to this feature. The tips of the stiff, glossy, dark green needles are usually curved towards the twigs. They are in twos, 6 to 11 cm long and encased at the base by a grey, papery membrane. The oval to narrow oval cones are in twos or threes on short stems. First they are dark green to bluish purple, turning matt light brown to grey when ripening. A variable species which is often still found under the synonym P. leucodermis or P. heldreichii var. Leucodermis. Has few demands as to soil, tolerates limy soil and wind.