Chamaecyparis species are used as food plants by the larva of some Lepidoptera species including Juniper Pug and Pine Beauty.
Tree species best represented in the arboretum are Chamaecyparis (120 taxa), Prunus (115 taxa), Picea (100 taxa), Quercus (85 taxa), Abies (60 taxa), Sorbus (55 taxa), Crataegus (50 taxa), Fraxinus (45 taxa), Tilia (45 taxa), Viburnum (40 taxa), Cedrus (20 taxa), and Cupressocyparis (20 taxa).
All told, the arboretum contains more than 800 varieties of trees and shrubs, with extensive collections of Chamaecyparis, Juniperus, Taxus, and Thuja, as well as roses and fine specimens of Acer griseum, Cornus controversa, Cupressus sempervirens, Juniperus deppeana, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Quercus pyrenaica.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Thuja occidentalis as well as other Arborvitae and False Cypress (Chamaecyparis) species.
More recently, Farjon et al. (2002) transferred it to a new genus Xanthocyparis, together with the newly discovered Vietnamese Golden Cypress Xanthocyparis vietnamensis; this species is remarkably similar to Nootka Cypress and the treatment has many arguments in its favour, as while they are not related to Chamaecyparis, neither do they fit fully in Cupressus despite the many similarities.
Asiatic species of Chamaecyparis are generally described as resistant to P. lateralis, although this pathogen is occasionally isolated from Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl.