Daphniphyllum is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Daphniphyllaceae and was described as a genus in 1826.

[4][5] The genus includes evergreen shrubs and trees mainly native to east and southeast Asia, but also found in the Indian Subcontinent and New Guinea.

[3] All species in the family are dioecious, that is male and female flowers are borne on different plants.

[1] In older classifications the genus was treated in the family Euphorbiaceae.

Daphniphyllum species are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the engrailed (Ectropis sp.