They both grow in a conical form, tapering to a point at the top. The topmost shoot of the Lawson Cypress tends to droop over, while in the Western Red Cedar it is more rigid. Both have flattened branchlets, which are persistent up the stem of the tree. The pictures here show magnification of the underside of the scalelike leaves. The white bands (stomata) of the Cypress appear in the forms of "Ys" or "Xs", while on the Western Red Cedar they appear in the form of what might be called, a "butterfly".

Both trees originate in the west of Canada and the United States, where they are referred to as "red cedar" and "yellow cedar", both in the forest and in the sawmill. The timber of each tree is durable in the open, especially timber from Western Red Cedar, which is used as cladding for wooden buildings. Persistency of the branchlets makes the sawn timber prone to knots in the tree's early years.

There is an industry in Canada producing a paper from Western Red Cedar, especially used to manufacture chemists' and doctors' disposable gowns, because of the resistance of the cell-structures to chemicals and the straightness thereof.

Species of Cypress have been grown as ornamental trees for gardens and estates for many years. In 1888 at a nursery at Leighton Hall in Welshpool, it was noticed that a batch of plants originating from seeds collected from a  Chamaecyparis nootkatensis  differed from the rest of the seedlings. In 1911 seedlings originating from a  Cupressus macrocarpa  seed collection produced a batch of plants similar to those produced in 1888. The seedlings were hybrids of the two different species. The hybrids are now cultivated purposely and take the name Leyland Cypress or  Cupressocyparis leylandii. Because of the persistency of the branchlets, they make good hedge plants, but they grow extremely quickly and reach a great height, if not checked.

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