Phoebe (plant)


Phoebe is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. There are 75 accepted species in the genus, distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia and New Guinea. 35 species occur in China, of which 27 are endemic. The first description of the genus was of the type species P. lanceolata made in 1836 by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in Systema Laurinarum, p. 98.

Description

Phoebe species are evergreen shrubs or trees with pinnately veined leaves. The flowers are hermaphrodite, white, small and fragrant, and are grouped in branched terminal inflorescences in the form of panicles. The bracts are all of equal length or the outer ones are slightly shorter than the inner ones. The ovary is oval to spherical. The stigma is capitate or bowl-shaped. The fruits are enveloped by the enlarged bracts. Fruits are usually oval to spherical. The fruit is a berry and has only a single seed that is frequently dispersed by birds.

Distribution

Up to 100 species of Phoebe are currently reported in Asia, with 27 species endemic to China.

Ecology

The fruits of the genus are fleshy berries.

Species

75 species are currently accepted:
  • Phoebe angustifolia Meisn. – Indochina, Assam, and China
  • Phoebe assamica Kalyankumar – northeastern India
  • Phoebe attenuata Nees – Eastern Himalayas, northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Vietnam
  • Phoebe baishyae M.Gangop. - Arunachal Pradesh in India
  • Phoebe birmanica Kosterm. – Myanmar
  • Phoebe bootanica M.Gangop., synonym of Phoebe hainesiana – central and eastern Himalayas and northeastern India
  • Phoebe bournei Y.C.Yang - southern China and Hainan
  • Phoebe brachythyrsa H.W.Li – northeastern Yunnan in China
  • Phoebe calcarea S.Lee & F.N.Wei – Guangxi and southern Guizhou in China
  • Phoebe canescens Miq. – Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra
  • Phoebe cathia Kosterm. – southwestern and northeastern India, eastern Himalayas, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam
  • Phoebe cavaleriei Y.Yang & Bing Liu – Sichuan, northeastern Yunnan, and Guizhou in China
  • Phoebe chartacea Miq. – Java
  • Phoebe chekiangensis C.B.Shang – China
  • Phoebe clemensii C.K.Allen – New Guinea
  • Phoebe cooperiana P.C.Kanjilal & Das – northeastern India
  • Phoebe crassipedicella S.Lee & F.N.Wei – China
  • Phoebe cuneata Blume – Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi
  • Phoebe cuspidata Blume – Java
  • Phoebe dehaasiifolia Kosterm. – Thailand
  • Phoebe elliptica Blume – Peninsular Malaysia, Java
  • Phoebe excelsa Nees – Java
  • Phoebe faberi Chun – central China
  • Phoebe forbesii Gamble – New Guinea
  • Phoebe formosana Hayata – Taiwan and Anhui
  • Phoebe gamblei Kamik. – Java
  • Phoebe glabrifolia Merr. – Philippines
  • Phoebe glaucifolia S.K.Lee & F.N.Wei – southeastern Tibet and central Yunnan
  • Phoebe glaucophylla H.W.Li – southeastern Yunnan
  • Phoebe grandis Merr. – Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi
  • Phoebe hainanensis Merr. – Hainan
  • Phoebe hedgei M.Gangop. & A.Sarmah – Arunachal Pradesh
  • Phoebe hekouensis Bing Liu, W.Y.Jin, L.N.Zhao & Y.Yang – Yunnan
  • Phoebe holosericea Blume – Sumatra
  • Phoebe hui W.C.Cheng ex Y.C.Yang – China
  • Phoebe hunanensis Hand.-Mazz. – central and southern China
  • Phoebe hungmaoensis S.K.Lee – China, Vietnam
  • Phoebe javanica Meisn. – Java
  • Phoebe kjellbergii Kosterm. – Sulawesi
  • Phoebe kunstleri Gamble – Vietnam, Laos, Borneo
  • Phoebe kwangsiensis H.Liu – China
  • Phoebe laevis Kosterm. – Borneo
  • Phoebe lanceolata Nees – India, Bangladesh, eastern Himalaya, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, China
  • Phoebe legendrei Lecomte – China
  • Phoebe leiophylla Miq. – Borneo and Sulawesi
  • Phoebe liana Y.Yang – China
  • Phoebe lichuanensis S.K.Lee – China
  • Phoebe longepetiolata Kosterm. – Sumatra
  • Phoebe lucida Blume – Sumatra and Borneo
  • Phoebe lummaoensis M.Gangop. – Myanmar
  • Phoebe macrocarpa C.Y.Wu, synonym of Phoebe poilanei – China and northern Vietnam
  • Phoebe macrophylla Blume – Vietnam, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Maluku, New Guinea
  • Phoebe megacalyx H.W.Li – China to northern Vietnam
  • Phoebe motuonan S.K.Lee & F.N.Wei – southeastern Tibet
  • Phoebe neurantha Gamble – central and southern China
  • Phoebe neuranthoides S.K.Lee & F.N.Wei – central and southern China
  • Phoebe nigrifolia S.K.Lee & F.N.Wei – China
  • Phoebe obtusa Blume ex Meisn. – Java
  • Phoebe pallida Nees – western and central Himalaya, Northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam
  • Phoebe petelotii Kosterm. ex H.H.Pham – Vietnam
  • Phoebe pierrei Lecomte – Cambodia
  • Phoebe prazeri M.Gangop. – Myanmar
  • Phoebe puwenensis W.C.Cheng – China
  • Phoebe rufescens H.W.Li – China
  • Phoebe scortechinii Kochummen ex de Kok – Peninsular Malaysia
  • Phoebe sheareri Gamble – southern China and Vietnam
  • Phoebe siamensis Kosterm. – Thailand
  • Phoebe sterculioides Merr. – Philippines
  • Phoebe tavoyana Hook.f. –  China, Indochina, and Peninsular Malaysia
  • Phoebe tenuifolia Kosterm. – Philippines and Sulawesi
  • Phoebe wightii Meisn. – southwestern India
  • Phoebe yaiensis S.K.Lee – China and Vietnam
  • Phoebe yunnanensis H.W.Li – China
  • Phoebe zhennan S.K.Lee & F.N.Wei – China

Formerly placed here

Phylogeny

After

Fossil record

Several fossil cupules, some with fruits inside of †Phoebe bohemica from the early Miocene, have been found at the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, the Czech Republic.