Systematic studies based on DNA sequences have shown that some traditional tribal delimitations in Melastomataceae remain unresolved, such as the 'Merianthera and allies' clade, an informal group which has not been formally assigned to a tribe. This clade includes Behuria, Cambessedesia, Dolichoura, Huberia and Merianthera and occurs mainly at high elevations in the Atlantic Forest and cerrado biomes of Brazil. Behuria, Dolichoura, Huberia and Merianthera were tradionally placed in Merianieae based on overall similar morphology. The assignment of Cambessedesia to Microlicieae has been challenged and its tribal placement needs re-evaluation. To infer the monophyly of the genera and revise generic limits we analysed DNA markers of three plastid (atpF-atpH, psbK-psbL and trnS-trnG), two ribosomal (nrETS and nrITS) and a segment of a low-copy nuclear gene (waxy), using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. We also selected 12 morphological characters to reconstruct an ancestral character estimation analysis. Our results recovered Cambessedesia and Merianthera as monophyletic lineages together with monophyletic Huberia and Dolichoura nested in a paraphyletic Behuria. We propose and describe for the first time the tribe Cambessedesieae based on molecular, morphological and geographical data. As recognized here, Cambessedesieae consist of Cambessedesia, Merianthera and an expanded Huberia (including Behuria and Dolichoura) Ver menos