The
APG IV system of 2016 recognises the family and places it in the order
Ranunculales in the clade
eudicots. In some older treatments of the family, Berberidaceae only included four genera (
Berberis, Epimedium, Mahonia, Vancouveria), with the other genera treated in separate families, Leonticaceae (
Bongardia, Caulophyllum, Gymnospermium, Leontice), Nandinaceae (
Nandina), and Podophyllaceae (
Achlys, Diphylleia, Dysosma, Jeffersonia, Podophyllum, Ranzania, Sinopodophyllum).
Mahonia is very closely related to
Berberis, and included in it by many botanists. However, recent
DNA-based
phylogenetic research has reinstated
Mahonia, though with a handful of species transferred into the newly described genera
Alloberberis (formerly
Mahonia section
Horridae) and
Moranothamnus (formerly
Mahonia claireae). Species of
Mahonia and
Berberis can be
hybridised, with the hybrids being classified in the genus
× Mahoberberis.
Diphyllaea is closely related to or perhaps embedded within
Podophyllum. Instead of the current trend to subdivide
Podophyllum into three genera (
Podophyllum, plus
Dysosma and
Sinopodophyllum), inclusion of
Diphyllaea in a larger
Podophyllum is equally warranted. Genera are displayed in the following cladogram ==Gallery==