Crypteroniaceae

Crypteroniaceae is a family of trees and shrubs in the Myrtales order. It consists of about 10 species within 3 genera, native to the Indomalaya ecozone.

The genus Axinandra consists of four species, one found in Sri Lanka, and the other three found on the Malay Penninsula and Borneo. Crypteronia consists of 7 species with are found in India, southern China, the Malay Penninsula, Indonesia, and New Guinea. Dactylocladus consists of 1 species found in peat swamp forests of Borneo.

Morphological analasys indicates that Crypteroniaceae is closely related to the Penaeaceae, Oliniaceae, Rhynchocalycaceae, and Alzateaceae families, all of which are in the Myrtales order. It is believed that the common ancestors of all these families originated in Gondwana during the Cretaceous, carrying the Crypteroniaceae northward after the breakup of the supercontinent, breaking into 3 genera before India collided with Asia. The genera then would have spread from India to Southeast Asia.