Sciadopitys

Sciadopitys
Temporal range:
Sciadopitys verticillata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Sciadopityaceae
Genus: Sciadopitys
Siebold & Zucc.
Species

Sciadopitys, commonly called umbrella pines, is a genus of a unique conifers now endemic to Japan. The sole living member of the family Sciadopityaceae is Sciadopitys verticillata, a living fossil. The oldest fossils of Sciadopitys are from the Late Cretaceous of Japan, and the genus was widespread in Laurasia during most of the Cenozoic, especially in Europe until the Pliocene.