Abstract: Saururaceae is a small relict family distributed disjunctly between Eastern Asia and North America. At the present time it only contains 4 genera and 6 species. According to the com-prehensive analysis of the data from cytology, palynology, floral organogenesis and vasculature, embryology, comparative morphology and anatomy, the phylogenetic relationship among the genera of Saururaceae are inferred. The primitive genus Saururus with 2 species is considered much more primitive than the other three genera because it has preserved the probably most prim-itive characters from their ancester. Another Asian genus Gymnotheca with 2 species presents transitional group in the family.

Key words: Saururaceae