English: Sweetshrubs; Spicebushes.
Clades:
LauralesRegion: warm temperate and tropical regions
Genera: 3; 10 speciesCalycanthus: 3 species; western and southeastern North America
Chimonanthus; 6 species; eastern Asia.
Idiospermum: 1 species; Queensland, Australia.
BotanyAromatic, deciduous shrubs; ± 3 m tall; Idiospermum is a large evergreen tree; flowers white to red, spirally arranged tepals.
TaxonomyDNA-based phylogenies indicate the Northern Hemisphere Calycanthus and Chimonanthus diverged from each other in the mid-Miocene, while the Australian Idiospermum had already diverged by the Upper Cretaceous and likely represents a remnant of a former Gondwanan distribution of
CalycanthaceaeIn the Apg4 system of 2016,
Calycanthaceae were placed in the
Magnoliales order in the magnoliids clade.