| Summary: | In the last decade, several studies have relied on a small number of plastid genomes to deduce deep phylogenetic relationships in the species-rich Myrtaceae. Nevertheless, the plastome of <i>Rhodomyrtus tomentosa</i>, an important representative plant of the Rhodomyrtus (DC.) genera, has not yet been reported yet. Here, we sequenced and analyzed the complete chloroplast (CP) genome of <i>R. tomentosa</i>, which is a 156,129-bp-long circular molecule with 37.1% GC content. This CP genome displays a typical quadripartite structure with two inverted repeats (IRa and IRb), of 25,824 bp each, that are separated by a small single copy region (SSC, 18,183 bp) and one large single copy region (LSC, 86,298 bp). The CP genome encodes 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, eight rRNA genes and three pseudogenes (<i>ycf1</i>, <i>rps19</i>, <i>ndhF</i>). A considerable number of protein-coding genes have a universal ATG start codon, except for <i>psbL</i> and <i>ndhD</i>. Premature termination codons (PTCs) were found in one protein-coding gene, namely <i>atpE</i>, which is rarely reported in the CP genome of plants. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that <i>R. tomentosa</i> has a sister relationship with <i>Eugenia uniflora</i> and <i>Psidium guajava</i>. In conclusion, this study identified unique characteristics of the <i>R. tomentosa</i> CP genome providing valuable information for further investigations on species identification and the phylogenetic evolution between <i>R. tomentosa</i> and related species.
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