Thirty million years ago, trees of the genus Chamaecyparis-the false cypresses-were distributed all over the world, but successive ice ages forced them into retreat, and left them with hardly anywhere where they could survive. Fortunately, the tall mountains of Taiwan provided a refuge.
三千萬年前，檜木屬植物曾分佈全世界，幾次的冰河期，逼迫檜木步步退卻，幾無立足之所，幸運地，台灣聳立的高山成為檜木避難所。