The family Convolvulaceae is characterized by the common name Morning glories, within which there are approximately 55 to 60 genera, depending upon expert classification scheme invoked; correspondingly, there are somewhere between 1650 and 2000 species within the family.

Molecular phylogenics has provided considerable insight on the cladistic arrangement of the entire Solanales order, which is now known to have originated in the mid-Cretaceous era with a stem node date of approximately 106 million years before present. The closest family is also known to be the Solanaceae.

The family distribution is widespread across the globe, but individual species are often found in locales where they are alien species, acting as invasives to the local ecology or to productive agriculture. In many such cases herbicides are invoked to limit the propagation of some Convolvulaceae species.