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 (southestern Yunnan) Phoebe assamica Kalyankumar – northeastern India Phoebe attenuata (Nees) Nees – Eastern Himalayas, northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmer, and Vietnam Phoebe baishyae M.Gangop. - Arunachal Pradesh in India Phoebe birmanica Kosterm. – Myanmar Phoebe bootanica (Meisn.) M.Gangop., synonym of Phoebe hainesiana – central and eastern Himalayas and northeastern India Phoebe bournei (Hemsl.) 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 (Blume) Miq. – Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra Phoebe cathia (D.Don) Kosterm. – southwestern and northeastern India, eastern Himalayas, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam Phoebe cavaleriei (H.Lév.) Y.Yang & Bing Liu – Sichuan, northeastern Yunnan, and Guizhou in China Phoebe chartacea (Blume) Miq. – Java Phoebe chekiangensis C.B.Shang – China (eastern Jiangxi, northern Fujian, and northern Zhejiang) Phoebe clemensii C.K.Allen – New Guinea Phoebe cooperiana P.C.Kanjilal & Das – northeastern India Phoebe crassipedicella S.Lee & F.N.Wei – China (southern Guizhou and northwestern Guangxi) Phoebe cuneata (Blume) Blume – Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi Phoebe cuspidata Blume – Java Phoebe dehaasiifolia Kosterm. – Thailand Phoebe elliptica Blume – Peninsular Malaysia, Java Phoebe excelsa (Blume)