Abstract Primulaceae subfam. Myrsinoideae are a diverse group of flowering plants that includes three genera endemic to the Caribbean Islands ( Wallenia , Vegaea , Solonia ) within a mostly woody and tropical clade characterized by drupaceous fruits. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis based on ITS and trnL‐trnF DNA sequence data from 50 taxa of Myrsinoideae, emphasizing Neotropical species, was conducted to place four species from each of the two subgenera of Wallenia and the monotypic genera Vegaea and Solonia in a phylogenetic context. Several clades of drupaceous‐fruited Myrsinoideae are recovered, which are comparable to those of previous studies. Wallenia is polyphyletic, with the species of W. subg. Wallenia and W. subg. Homowallenia plus Vegaea forming separate clades. Wallenia subg. Wallenia and Solonia appear in a clade of Caribbean species within the New World Ardisioids that includes the type of Ardisia , while W. subg. Homowallenia and Vegaea , the former paraphyletic with respect to the latter, occur in an unresolved position among the Myrsinoid genera. The foliar anatomy of four investigated species representing Ardisia , W. subg. Wallenia , W. subg. Homowallenia , and Vegaea differs in a manner that parallels the phylogenetic results in that the abundance of fibers, mesophyll structure, predominant type of crystal, stomatal type, and strength of reaction with iodine‐potassium iodide are similar for Ardisia and W. subg. Wallenia on the one hand and W. subg. Homowallenia and Vegaea on the other. Variation in the distribution of granular trichomes on the inner surface of the corolla and the extent of corolla fusion and sexual dimorphism is evident in flowers of three investigated species of W. subg. Homowallenia . The problem of the limits of Ardisia in the Neotropics and the affinity of the Homowallenia‐Vegaea clade to Cybianthus are discussed in light of the present results. The species of W. subg. Wallenia and Solonia are transferred to Ardisia , and the species of W. subg. Homowallenia are transferred to an expanded Vegaea . Twenty‐three new combinations and eight new names are proposed to effect the taxonomic changes. Twenty‐four lectotypes, one neotype, and a type for W. subg. Homowallenia are designated. This study contributes to the systematics of Myrsinoideae while reducing the number of genera endemic to the Caribbean Islands by two.