All Corsiaceae are achlorophyllous. Together with Campynemataceae (4 species in Tasmania and New Caledonia) they represent the most basal clade in Liliales (Stevens 2001 onwards). The family shows remarkable disjunctions. Whereas the largest genus Corsia is distributed around New Guinea, Solomon Island and Northern Australia (van Royen 1972), the two species of Arachnitis occur in Southern Argentina, Chile and Bolivia as well as the Falkland Islands (Cribb et al. 1995). The monotypic Corsiopsis has been collected in China (Zhang et al. 1999).
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