Bigcone Douglas-fir, bigcone spruce. As a member of the genus Pseudotsuga, it is not a spruce, but "bigcone spruce" is the name you will usually hear if you travel in this tree's native range.
When the seed cones are not in evidence, it generally resembles interior Douglas fir (P. menziesii subsp. glauca) in bark and foliage characters, and somewhat in growth form; however, the species do not co-occur in their native habitats. It forms a tree that commonly attains 30 m height and 100 cm dbh, with a roughly conical crown that often bears some deformation due to the dry sites, poor soils and frequent fire that this tree must frequently contend with. The twigs are slender, glabrous or pubescent. The needles are (20-)25-45 × 1-1.5 mm, bluish green, with a mucronate tip. The pollen cones are pale yellow.