The genus Helwingia consists of shrubs or rarely small trees native to eastern Asia, the Himalayas, and northern Indochina.

[2][3] The plants have alternate, evergreen or deciduous leaves and small inflorescences that are epiphyllous (growing from the leaf surface).

During development, the flowers appear separate from the leaves,[further explanation needed], eventually fusing with the leaf midrib.

This atypical floral position upon a leaf is believed to be an adaption to insect pollination.

[6] The APG II classification (2003) places them in the order Aquifoliales, along with the hollies and Phyllonomaceae, which also has epiphyllous flowers.