[1] 11 genera are currently accepted:[2] Roman natural philosopher Gaius Plinius Secundus or Pliny the Elder, who lived in the first century, is attributed to have used the name Reseda for the first time in writing.

The British botanist Samuel Frederick Gray erected the family Resedaceae in 1821, based on the type genus Reseda as validly described by Carl Linnaeus.

[3] Recent molecular studies suggest that Oligomeris, Randonia and Ochradenus all arose from within the ranks of Reseda.

[4] The family includes annuals, biennials and perennials and is distributed in temperate to sub-tropical regions of Europe, western Asia, the Middle East, East Asia, North America, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean and South Africa.

In APG IV (2016)[5] it was expanded to include the genera Borthwickia (formerly Borthwickiaceae), Neothorelia, Stixis, and Tirania (formerly Stixidaceae) and Forchhammeria (formerly in Capparaceae) This Brassicales article is a stub.