马桑科只有一属—马桑属，约有30种，都是灌木或小乔木，广泛分布在世界的地的温带地区，主要分布在亚洲、地中海沿岸、新西兰、太平洋岛屿以及中南美洲。中国有3种。

本科植物单叶，叶又-9厘米长，无托叶；枝有棱；花的花瓣肉质，内侧有龙骨，5裂；果实为瘦果，但被肉质花瓣包围，类似核果，小，黑色、黄色或红色，有毒，有的品种如草马桑（C. terminalis）则可以食用。

1981年的克朗奎斯特分类法将马桑科分入毛茛目，1998年根据基因亲缘关系分类的APG 分类法将其列入新设立的葫芦目。

Coriaria is the sole genus in the family Coriariaceae.described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. It includes subshrubs, shrubs and small trees, with a widespread but disjunct distribution across warm temperate regions of the world, occurring as far apart as the Mediterranean region, southern and eastern Asia, New Zealand (where some are alpine species), the Pacific Ocean islands, and Central and South America.