TherbcL gene of 15 taxa was sequenced and analyzed cladistically together with a large sample of genera representing all main clades of the subclassAsteridae in order to determine more precisely the delimitation of the orderDipsacales and to elucidate the phylogeny of the families within the order. The cladistic analyses show that the Dipsacales comprise the familiesCaprifoliaceae, Morinaceae, Dipsacaceae, andValerianaceae includingTriplostegia. The results also provide a basis for the exclusion of a number of taxa previously placed in theDipsacales, such asDesfontainia, Columellia andAdoxaceae s. l. (includingSambucus andViburnum). Ever since the orderDipsacales was first suggested byDumortier (1829) and the similarCaprifoliales byLindley (1833, 1836), there has been confusion concerning the circumscription of the order, the relations between the included families, their circumscriptions, and the position of the order in a larger context.