General: Large tree up to 60 m tall, with drooping leader; mature trees often fluted and buttressed at base; branches tend to spread or droop slightly and then turn upward (J-shaped); branchlets spraylike, strongly flattened horizontally; bark grey to reddish brown, tearing off in long fibrous strips; wood aromatic.
Leaves: Scale-like, opposite pairs in 4 rows, the leaves in one pair folded, the leaves in the other not, closely pressed to stem in overlapping shingled arrangement that looks like a flattened braid; glossy yellowish green, turning brown and shedding on branches 3-4 years old.
Cones: Pollen cones minute, numerous, reddish; seed cones with 8-12 scales, egg-shaped, about 1 cm long, in loose clusters, green when immature, becoming brown, woody and turned upward; seeds winged.
Ecology: Mostly in moist to wet soils, usually in shaded forests; grows best on seepage and alluvial sites, but also occurs in drier habitats, especially on richer soils, and in bogs. Low to medium elevations.