Formative oil pine, also known as red-barked pine or shortleaf pine, is a needle-leaved evergreen tree of the Pinaceae family, with the tall oil pine reaching up to 30 meters and a trunk diameter of up to 1 meter. The bark below is grayish-brown, splitting into irregular scales, with red-brown cracks and upper bark; the large branches of the formative oil pine are spreading or obliquely upward, and the old trees have flat tops; the small branches are robust, yellowish-brown, glossy, and without powder; the winter buds are elongated, with pointed tips, slightly resinous, and the bud scales are red-brown. The crown of the formative oil pine is conical or pyramidal in young trees and ovate or irregular trapezoidal in middle-aged trees.

The crown of the solitary, elderly pine trees, shaped like flat-topped, elliptical, or umbrella shapes. The trunks are robust and upright, forming towering tree forms, and sometimes they can grow into curvaceous trunks, exuding a strong and upright posture.

The shape pine seeds are 6-8 mm long, with wings measuring 1.5-2.0 cm, and the wings are 2-3 times the length of the seeds. Flowering occurs in May, and the cones mature in the first and second weeks of October in the second year. Young trees have a pyramidal or conical crown, while mature trees have an ovate or irregular trapezoidal shape. Isolated old trees have a flat-topped, oblate, or umbrella-shaped crown. The trunk is robust and upright, forming a towering tree shape, and sometimes it can grow into a curved, versatile trunk, appearing sturdy and majestic.