In Vietnam it grows in the mountains of the central and south-central parts of the country at elevations of 1,400 to 2,300 metres (4,600 to 7,500 ft).

[3][4] Only recently confirmed from Laos, the population located within the Nakai-Nam Theun Biodiversity Conservation Area is the largest, at the lowest elevation, and the northernmost of the known populations of P.

[5] Pinus dalatensis is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 30 to 40 metres (98 to 131 ft) tall.

It is a member of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five, with a deciduous sheath.

It is most closely related to the blue pine Pinus wallichiana from the Himalaya.