[3][7] Being one of few angiosperms forming persistent tetrads with prominent sculpturing, pollen of Winteraceae is rare but easy to identify in the fossil record.

[7] Pollen samples found in Gabon may indicate that the family is at least 120 million years old,[8] but the association of these fossils with Winteraceae is uncertain.

[10] Fossil Winteraceae wood has been found in the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (c. 85–35 million years ago) of Antarctica (Santonian-Campanian),[11] western North America (Central Valley, California; Maastrichian)[12] and Europe (Helmstedt, Germany; Eocene).

[3] Among all species, the distinctive characters of released pollen tetrads are easily recognized using light and electron microscopy.

[19] Xylem vessels were seen as an important evolved character for the diversification and success of Angiosperms, so vesselless wood was seen as an archaic trait, resulting in basal placement of the Winteraceae.

[21] The ability to avoid serious water limitation and therefore the shedding of leaves is hypothesized to be a major evolutionary pressure behind the reversion to vesselless wood.

This is further supported by the heteroxylly hypothesis in which “primitive” vessels conferred little difference in stem hydraulic efficiency under normal conditions as compared to vesselless angiosperms.

[25] Drimys winteri (Winter's bark) is a slender tree native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and Argentina.

It is a common garden plant grown for its fragrant mahogany-red bark, bright-green leaves, and its clusters of creamy white, jasmine-scented flowers.

[citation needed] Tasmannia lanceolata, known as Tasmanian pepper, is grown as an ornamental shrub, and is increasingly being used as a condiment.