The Calycanthaceae (sweetshrubs or spicebushes) are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales.

The flowers are white to red, with spirally arranged tepals.

DNA-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 Calycanthaceae.

The oldest definitive fossil of the family is Jerseyanthus from the Turonian of New Jersey; the even earlier Araripia from the Aptian of Brazil and Virginianthus from the Albian of Virginia may also represent members of the family, but may also be stem-Calycanthaceae or more basal Laurales.

[4] In the APG IV system of 2016, Calycanthaceae is placed in the Laurales order in the magnoliids clade.