离水花科又名虎刺叶科或拉美冬青科，只有1属2种—Desfontainia spinosa Ruiz & Pav.和Desfontainia splendens Bonpl.，分布在从哥斯达黎加至全部安第斯山区直到南美洲最南端。

本科植物为常绿乔木或灌木；单叶对生，叶有刺；花长，花冠成筒状；果实为浆果，白色或黄色。

1981年的克朗奎斯特分类法将其列在马钱科，1998年根据基因亲缘关系分类的APG 分类法认为应该单独分出一个科，但无法放到任何 一个目中，直接放在II类真菊分支之下，可选择性地与弯药树科合并，2003年经过修订的APG II 分类法维持原分类。

Desfontainia is a genus of flowering plants placed currently in the family Columelliaceae, though formerly in Loganiaceae, Potaliaceae (now subsumed in Gentianaceae), or a family of its own, Desfontainiaceae.

The best known species, D. spinosa ('Chilean holly'), is a native of rainforests and mountain slopes in southern Central America and South America, occurring from Costa Rica in the north to certain islands of Tierra del Fuego (shared by Chile and Argentina) in the extreme South, being present also in Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.