Delavay's fir

Large, upright-growing conical, evergreen coniferous tree, reaching up to 25m when mature. Young branches are reddish and glabrous, darkening in 2nd - 3rd year. New buds are resinous, small and globular. Leaves are densely set in several overlapping ranks, covering shoots in radial way. Needles are glossy, dark-green above, with two stomatal lines underneath. Up to 3cm long and 2.5mm wide, they are often curved or ''S''-shaped, flattened at the end. Ovoid seed cones, up to 8 cm long and 4 cm wide, are dark indigo-blue when young, maturing to black.