Alangium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species in the Geometroidea-Drepanoidea assemblage including the Engrailed (Geometridae) and the subfamily Cyclidiinae (Drepanidae).
The larvae are gregarious and specialist herbivores on Alangium species.
Molecular data suggest that there are four clades within the Cornales: Cornus-Alangium, nyssoids-mastixioids, Hydrangeaceae-Loasaceae, and Grubbia-Curtisia, with Hydrostachyaceae in an uncertain position, possibly basal.