It is a member of the white pine group, Pinus, section Quinquefoliae. In its native habitat and growing conditions it can reach 30 m (100 ft) and even 50 m (164 ft) in height. Cultivated specimens may grow up to 15 m (50 ft) tall. It is pyramidal in shape, younger specimens with ascending branches and older trees with more horizontal branches that reach ground level. The gray or brownish bark flakes off to reveal reddish inner bark. The sapwood is yellowish white, the heartwood is light yellowish-brown or light reddish-brown. The branchlets and winter buds are also reddish-brown. The branches are lined with bundles of five blue-green needles each up to 115 mm (4+1⁄2 in) and bear brown cones up to 150 mm (6 in) long. In Northeast China, a large cone is nearly 200 mm long and 100 mm in diameter. The seeds take two years of growth to mature, and the mature seeds do not fall off. The cones release a strong scent that is so irresistible to animals that they help to open the hard cones allowing the seeds to disperse. The nutsshells are reddish brown. P. koraiensis is monoecious with different flowers. Male cones are reddish-yellow, mostly clustered in the lower part of new branches to form spikes; female cones are green-brown, solitary or in groups near the top of new branches. P. koraiensis can live up to 700 years; after 100-200 years of growth, it enters the fruitful youth stage, and after 300-400 years, it enters the fruitful adult stage. The wild P. koraiensis grows very slowly, it takes fifty or even eighty years to bear fruit, and the cultivated P. koraiensis usually takes more than twenty years to bear fruit, but grafted seedlings can bear fruit within a few years.