See text Gordonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, related to Franklinia, Camellia and Stewartia.

Of the roughly 40 species, all but two are native to southeast Asia in southern China, Taiwan and Indochina.

The remaining species, G. lasianthus (Loblolly-bay), is native to southeast North America, from Virginia south to Florida and west to Louisiana; G. fruticosa is native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, from Costa Rica to Brazil.

The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, serrated, thick, leathery, glossy, and 6–18 cm long.

Some botanists include Franklinia within Gordonia, even though recent phylogenetic studies show that Franklinia's closest living relationship is with the Asian genera Schima and not Gordonia;[1] it differs in being deciduous and flowering in late summer, not late winter.