While true cypresses didn’t appear until the Late Cretaceous, their family (Cupressaceae) has a deep fossil history stretching back to the Triassic. These ancient cypresses not only gave rise to familiar groups like the redwoods and bald cypresses, but also left behind a handful of living relics. Among these are Cunninghamia and Taiwania, now found in China and Taiwan. Fossils of both genera are known from the Cretaceous of Asia and North America, but their ancestors were once far more widespread. Elatides was the most common and long-lived of these early cupressaceous trees, ranging across the Northern Hemisphere from the Middle Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous. It had narrow, triangular leaves arranged spirally around the stem, similar to Araucaria. This genus was widespread and versatile, growing in mixed forests along rivers and lakes, and even in peat swamps in some regions. Like Ginkgo, it remained a key part of ancient forest ecosystems even after the rise of flowering plants, though it was eventually reduced to a single surviving lineage (Cunninghamia) in the Cenozoic.