A silicified conifer cone was collected from Lower Cretaceous rocks in Yixian, Liaoning Province, north-east China. The cone is long and cylindrical, and its axis contains secondary xylem with resin canals. Vascular traces to the scale and its subtending bract are separate when they diverge from the vascular cylinder of the cone axis. Where the base of the scale is separate from the bract, resin canals are distributed adaxially and abaxially in the vascular traces. Bracts separate from the scales marginally, and the apex of each scale is flattened. Seeds are inverted and occur in pairs on the adaxial surface of fertile scale. Seed is winged and elliptical, lacking both resin cavities and vascular traces in its seed coat. The characters of the Chinese specimen have led to the description of a new species of the fossil genus Pityostrobus as E! yixianensis. When compared with other pinaceous genera, E? yixianensis shows greatest similarity to the extant genera Picea, Pseudotsuga and Larix. It differs from other species of Pityostrobus which have a close relationship with either the genus Pinus or Pseudoaraucaria. The evolutionary and phylogenetic position of Pityostrobus yixianensis is considered to represent an ancestral intermediate between extant conifer genera such as Picea, Pseudotsuga and Larix. Pityostrobus yixianensis represents the first record of

In celebration of JIPB's 60 th anniversary, this paper summarizes and reviews the development process of the journal. To start, we offer our heartfelt thanks to JIPB's pioneer Editors-in-Chief who helped get the journal off the ground and make it successful. Academic achievement is the soul of academic journals, and this paper summarizes JIPB's course of academic development by analyzing it in four stages: the first two stages are mostly qualitative analyses, and the latter two stages are dedicated to quantitative analyses. Most-cited papers were statistically analyzed. Improvements in editing, publication , distribution and online accessibility-which are detailed in this paper-contribute to JIPB's sustainable development. In addition, JIPB's evaluation index and awards are provided with accompanying pictures. At the end of the paper, JIPB's milestones are listed chronologically. We believe that JIPB's development, from a national journal to an international one, parallels the development of the Chinese plant sciences.

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