See text Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales.

[5] A few species of Antidesma, Baccaurea, Phyllanthus, and Uapaca bear edible fruit.

[9][10] The largest genera and the approximate number of species in each are: Phyllanthus (1270), Cleistanthus (140), Antidesma (100), Aporosa (90), Uapaca (60), Baccaurea (50), and Bridelia (50).

Leaves are present, except for a few species of Phyllanthus that have flattened, leaflike stems called cladodes that bear flowers along their edges.

Except for four species of Aporosa, the flowers are unisexual, the plants being either monoecious or dioecious.

The placentation is apical, with a pair of ovules hanging by their funicles from the top of each locule.

The name "Phyllanthaceae" was first validly published by Ivan Ivanovich Martynov in 1820 in a Russian book entitled Tekhno-botanico Slovar.

The monophyly of Euphorbiaceae had long been held in doubt by some, but the first strong evidence of its polyphyly came in 1993 with the first maximum parsimony analysis of DNA sequences of the gene rbcL from a large number of seed plants.

[18] Since the 1993 study, all subsequent phylogenetic analyses have shown that the old concept of Euphorbiaceae consisted of several lineages that did not together form a clade in the order Malpighiales.

[21] It was the subject of a book and two papers which stood as the standard works on Phyllanthaceae until that family was revised by Hoffmann and co-authors in 2006.

[15][22][23] In the past, the genera Centroplacus, Paradrypetes, and Phyllanoa had been placed in Phyllanthaceae, but these are now excluded from the family.

Breynia, Glochidion, Reverchonia, and Sauropus were recommended to be subsumed into Phyllanthus, but many new species combinations must be published to effect this change.

Genera previously considered as the tribe Drypeteae are now placed in the separate family Putranjivaceae.

[26] The revision of Phyllanthaceae by Hoffmann and co-authors was based on two molecular phylogenetic studies that were published in 2005.

Chonocentrum(Phyllanthaceae, incertae sedis), and three members of the tribe Scepeae (Ashtonia, Distichirrhops, and Nothobaccaurea) have not yet been sampled for DNA.

[24] In the phylogeny shown below, statistical support for the clades was measured by bootstrap percentage.

Bischofia Uapaca Spondianthus Protomagabaria Richeria Aporosa Maesobotrya Baccaurea Jablonskia Celianella Hieronyma Leptonema Martretia Apodiscus Hymenocardia Didymocistus Thecacoris Antidesma Securinega Lachnostylis Gonatogyne Savia Tacarcuna Discocarpus Croizatia Cleistanthus Pseudolachnostylis Pentabrachion Bridelia Keayodendron Amanoa Plagiocladus Margaritaria Lingelsheimia Heterosavia Flueggea Phyllanthus Heywoodia Chascotheca Astrocasia Wielandia Dicoelia Chorisandrachne Andrachne Meineckia Notoleptopus Pseudophyllanthus Poranthera Phyllanthopsis Actephila Leptopus