Abstract: Carlemanniaceae consists of 2 genera, Carlemannia and Silvianthus. There are 3 species in Carlemannia, 1 species including 1 subspecies in Silvianthus. The two genera had been put into Rubiaceae or Caprifoliaceae in the opinions of some taxonomists. Airy Shaw set up Carlemanniaceae having those two genera in 1965 and this division had been agreed by many other authors, but the systematic position of Carlemanniaceae was also in dispute even the relationship between Carlemannia and Silvianthus themselves,and the relationships with many other families, such as Gesneriaceae, Hydrangeaceae, Saxifragaceae and Verbenaceae are still very complicated and ill-defined. APGII considered its closest sister group was Jasminum or Ligustrum in Oleaceae but this conclusion was supported less. In this paper, the research references and recent materials to the family were reviewed and the scientific name Silvianthus bracteatus ssp. tonkinensis (Gagnep.) H. W. Li was treated as a synonym of Silvianthus bracteatus ssp. clerodendroides (Airy Shaw) H.W.Li. In the mean time, some suggestions have been provided for the research works in the future.

Key words: Carlemanniaceae, systematic position, review, synonym