Molecular phylogenetic investigations of the Scrophulariaceae indicate that it is a polyphyletic group in its traditional circumscription. Our best effort to determine relationships of representatives of the family in a broader context of the Lamiales s.l. is based on sequences for three chloroplast genes (rbcL, ndhF, rps2). The results break the family into several groups. The resulting shards vary in size and have varying degrees of support for their distinctiveness based on the molecular data. Three large clades are evident and provisionally are designated Orobanchaceae, Plantaginaceae, and Scrophulariaceae (according to current ICBN rules). Some smaller groups or individual genera do not fall into any of those three clades, or are only weakly supported as part of clades containing those groups. These include Calceolarieae, Gratioleae pro parte, Hemimerideae, Angelonia, Mimulus, and Paulownia. Some other genera group with other families and probably belong with them, whereas some small families, traditionally maintained as distinct, probably deserve to be included in one or the other of the three main clades.

Key words: cpDNA, Lamiales, molecular systematics, Orobanchaceae, Scrophulariaceae