The genus has two species, one found in north-east Asia (Japan and Russian Far East), the other in north-west America (Aleutians to Santa Cruz County in California).

The name is derived from two Greek words: λύσις (lysis, dissolve) and χιτῶν (chiton, armour), referring to the armour-like spathe enclosing the inflorescence that withers soon after flowering.

In a paper published in 1932, Eric Hultén and Harold St. John separated American plants into a second species.

They decided that Schott's Lysichitum was correct under the rules of botanical nomenclature; accordingly older sources use this spelling as the generic name for both species.

[6] Along with other members of the subfamily Orontioideae, Lysichiton has been placed in a group of "proto-aroids", which appear to have evolved before the characteristic features of most aroids emerged.

L. americanus was introduced into cultivation in the United Kingdom in 1901 and has escaped to become naturalized in marshy areas in Britain and Ireland.