Swamp cypress is a shrub or small tree, reaching eight metres tall.

The male cones are small, 3–6 mm long, and are located at the tips of the twigs.

The female cones start out similarly inconspicuous, but mature in 18–20 months to 1–2 cm with a rounded apex.

Bushfire kills swamp cypress, but it also causes a great many seeds to be released all at once, resulting in prolific regeneration.

The species was first collected from Perth in September 1841 by Johann August Ludwig Preiss, and a description was published by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel in 1845 as Actinostrobus pyramidalis.