Trees to 35 m tall; trunk to 2 m d.b.h.; branchlets arranged in a plane, pendulous, green, slender, flattened, ca. 1 mm wide. Leaves densely appressed, scalelike, dimorphic, 1-1.5 mm, apex sharply pointed; facial pairs with a linear abaxial gland; lateral pairs folded face-to-face, overlapping basal part of facial pairs, ridged abaxially. Pollen cones ellipsoid or ovoid, 2.5-5 mm; microsporophylls 10-14. Seed cones dark brown when ripe, globose, 0.8-1.5 cm in diam.; cone scales 6-8(-12), 5-angular, each fertile scale with 3-5(or 6) seeds. Seeds light brown, lustrous, obovate-rhombic or suborbicular, flattened, 2.5-3.5 mm. Cotyledons 2. Pollination Mar-May, seed maturity May-Jun. Native: (found primarily) Below 2000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, N Guangdong, N Guangxi, E Guizhou, Henan, W Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang; also widely cultivated in South China. [2]

One study showed funeral cypress to be one of three principle constituents (along with Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata) of the main coniferous forests at low elevations of the Three Gorges Reservoir area of China. It was found the shrub and herb layers dominant over the tree layer in these areas. [4]

Essential oils extracted from the leaves of C. funebris have been shown to be repellent and toxic in a fumigation assay against adult Liposcelis bostrychophila Badonnel. The funeral cypress proved most effective of 6 plants tested. The toxicity of the plant oils was enhanced significantly by a controlled atmosphere of  12% CO2 + 9% O2, and 10% CO2 + 5% O2, and balanced N2. [5]

Often classified in Chamaecyparis on account of its flattened foliage sprays and relatively few seeds in small cones; however, it is here placed in Cupressus because of its developmental characters (cones maturing in 2nd year) and chemical composition of biflavones. [2]