It comprises three genera, Meliosma, Ophiocaryon and Sabia, with 66 known species,[2] native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern Asia and the Americas.

[3] The Sabiaceae are a group of flowering plants that are included in the eudicots clade, where they form part of the basal level.

In this regard they are similar to the Proteaceae, with which they share, for example, a nectariferous hypogynous disc, although they differ in the number of floral parts and the radial pentameric symmetry is completely original.

Based on molecular and morphological data, the APW (Angiosperm Phylogeny Website) considers that they form part of the order Proteales, one of four families that includes the Proteaceae, the Nelumbonaceae, and the Platanaceae (cf.

The genus Sabia often are lianas, while those in the genera Meliosma and Ophiocaryon are trees and shrubs; the latter two are sometimes treated in a separate family Meliosmaceae.