The diverse and species‐rich order Ericales has found considerable interest among systematists in recent years. Molecular phylogenetic studies not only have convincingly demonstrated the monophyly of the order, comprising 23 families formerly placed in three different subclasses (Asteridae, Dilleniidae, and Rosidae), but have also resolved Ericales as sister to euasterids. Most ericalean families are well circumscribed and have been or are currently subject to intrafamilial phylogenetic studies. In spite of all the attention that Ericales have received recently, there remains a major challenge, the still largely unresolved deeper nodes in the ericalean phylogeny. This study aims to improve our current knowledge of the interfamilial relationships by expanding on gene and taxon sampling and to evaluate the evolution of important floral characters in light of the resulting phylogeny. We add a nuclear region (26s rDNA) to already published data sets (nuclear: 18s rDNA; mitochondrial: atp1, matR; chloroplast: ...