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.[citation needed] 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.[1]