As of August 2021[update], it has only one species, Xanthocyparis vietnamensis,[3] native to Vietnam and southeast China.

[4] This was based in part on the discovery that C. nootkatensis was more closely related to the genus Cupressus than to Chamaecyparis.

The name Xanthocyparis was proposed for conservation over Callitropsis,[7] a decision that was ratified at the International Botanical Congress in 2011.

[10] In 2009, most of the North American species previously included in Callitropsis were placed in a separate genus, Hesperocyparis.

[13] It has since also been recorded in Cao Bằng and Tuyên Quang provinces in Vietnam, as well as southeast China (Guangxi).