[4] They are native to the Americas, South Asia, Africa, and Madagascar.

The circumscription of Meineckia has undergone several changes since Henri Ernest Baillon erected the genus in 1858.

The name Peltandra had been used for some species in Meineckia,[7] but this is now a nomen rejectum.

Its type species, Meineckia phyllanthoides, is the same as that of the genus.

This subgenus is the only completely apetalous taxon in the tribe Poranthereae.