Phoebe (plant)

Phoebe is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. There are approximately 100 species in the genus, distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia and neotropical America. 35 species occur in China.[1] 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.

Phoebe
Phoebe formosana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Phoebe
Nees
Species

See text

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

100 species of Phoebe are currently reported in Asia, with 27 species endemic to China.[1]

Ecology

The fruits of the genus are fleshy berries.

Species
  • Phoebe angustifolia
  • Phoebe bournei
  • Phoebe brachythyrsa
  • Phoebe chekiangensis
  • Phoebe cinnamomifolia
  • Phoebe chinensis
  • Phoebe cooperiana[2]
  • Phoebe faberi
  • Phoebe formosana
  • Phoebe forrestii
  • Phoebe glaucophylla
  • Phoebe hainanensis
  • Phoebe hainesiana
  • Phoebe hui
  • Phoebe hunanensis
  • Phoebe hungmaoensis
  • Phoebe kwangsiensis
  • Phoebe lanceolata
  • Phoebe legendrei
  • Phoebe lichuanensis
  • Phoebe macrocarpa
  • Phoebe megacalyx
  • Phoebe microphylla
  • Phoebe minutiflora
  • Phoebe motuonan
  • Phoebe nanmu
  • Phoebe neurantha
  • Phoebe neuranthoides
  • Phoebe nigrifolia
  • Phoebe pandurata
  • Phoebe poilanei
  • Phoebe puwenensis
  • Phoebe rufescens
  • Phoebe scortechinii
  • Phoebe sheareri
  • Phoebe tavoyana
  • Phoebe yaiensis
  • Phoebe yunnanensis
  • Phoebe zhennan

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.[3]

References
  1. Fa-Nan Wei & Henk van der Werff. "Phoebe". Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  2. http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/223824
  3. A review of the early Miocene Mastixioid flora of the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, The Czech Republic, January 2012 by F. Holý, Z. Kvaček and Vasilis Teodoridis - ACTA MUSEI NATIONALIS PRAGAE Series B – Historia Naturalis • vol. 68 • 2012 • no. 3–4 • pp. 53–118
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