A large tree at mid-elevations from the Cascades of southern OR to the Sierras of southern CA and northern Mexico. It is not a major timber species (currently used to make pencils). Leaves are 1/2", persistent, scalelike, in whorls of 4, decurrent, glandular, and aromatic when crushed. Cones are 1", and oblong with thin, leathery scales. They has a duck-billed appearance when partially open.