Here's are a few facts after a quick search.
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the conifer family Cupressaceae (cypress family). Most plants which bear the common name cypress are in the genera Cupressus and Chamaecyparis, but several other genera in the family also carry the name, including:
Port Orford Cedar
(Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
COMMON NAMES: Port Orford cedar, Oregon cedar, Lawson's cypress.
The USDA officially calls it by the name Port Orford Cedar, as do most people in its native area, but as it is not a cedar, many botanists prefer to avoid the name, using Lawson's Cypress, or in very rare instances Port Orford Cypress, instead to stop confusion. The horticultural industry, in which the species is very important, mostly uses the name Lawson's Cypress.