cups bearing concrescent rings of scales; they commonly also have densely clustered acorns, though this does not apply to all of the species. Species of Cyclobalanopsis are common in the evergreen subtropical laurel forests which extend from southern Japan, southern Korea, and Taiwan across southern China and northern Indochina to the eastern Himalayas, in association with trees of the genus Castanopsis and the laurel family (Lauraceae). Sect. Cerris, the Turkey oak and its relatives of Europe and Asia. Styles are long; acorns mature in 18 months and taste very bitter. The inside of the acorn's shell is hairless. Its leaves typically have sharp lobe tips, with bristles at the lobe tip. Sect. Ilex, the Ilex oak and its relatives of Eurasia and northern Africa. Styles are medium-long; acorns mature in 12–24 months, appearing hairy on the inside. The leaves are evergreen, with bristle-like extensions on the teeth. Fossil history Potential records of Quercus have been reported from Late Cretaceous deposits in North America and East Asia, however these are not considered definitive. In a survey of the fossil record of Quercus it was concluded that "pre-Paleogene, and perhaps pre-Eocene occurrences of Quercus macroremains are generally represented by poorly preserved fossils that lack critical features needed for certain identification and need to be treated with caution." Amongst the oldest unequivocal records of Quercus are pollen from Austria, dating to the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, around 55 million years ago. The oldest records of Quercus in North America are from Oregon, dating to the Middle Eocene, around 44 million years ago, with the oldest records in Asia being from the Middle of Eocene of Japan; both forms have affinites to the Cyclobalanopsis group. Phylogeny The advent of molecular techniques for phylogenetic analysis transformed understanding of oak relationships, initially by uncovering molecular support for the diphyletic division of Quercus into Old World and New World clades. These techniques have proved highly useful in resolving fine-scale relationships among 2–5 oak species, particularly groups known to hybridize, but until recently the larger emphasis on this narrow approach prevented systematists from making large-scale determinations about oak history. As the capacity for sampling across wider swaths of oak species rose, so has resolution at the section and species level across the Quercus genus. Further advances in oak systematics are expected to arise from next-generation sequencing techniques, including a recent project to sequence the entire genome of Quercus robur (the