[2] The family is known from fossil flowers dating to the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous that have been found in the Raritan Formation, New Jersey and from leaves dating to the Eocene found in the Klondike Mountain Formation, Washington.

[3] Some seeds and one fruit of †Itea europea were found in two samples of muddy sediment from the Fossil Forest of Dunarobba.

In northwestern Italy, it occurs with a some seeds and fruits in two sites of Early or Middle Pliocene age.

Fossil pollen of Itea has been detected in a short section of the Sarzana Basin in north-western part of central Italy tentatively assigned to the Miocene-Pliocene transition.

In this site a high pollen percentages of 12% suggest that Itea was an important element in the local vegetation.