Kalanchoe is a valuable study system that utilizes CAM photosynthesis and demonstrates high water-use efficiency, as well as extreme drought-tolerance qualities. Many Kalanchoe species produce wax blooms, which are accumulations of hydrophobic surface chemicals that aid in water retention and buffer against temperature fluctuations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the chemical composition of wax blooms among Kalanchoe and to examine the tempo and mode of evolution of wax bloom traits across the Kalanchoe phylogeny. We present a newly-generated phylogeny, based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of 18–26S nuclear ribosomal DNA, in an effort to establish a comparative phylogenetic framework. Our initial maximum likelihood and Bayesian reconstructions reveal uncertain relationships among the species of Kalanchoe sampled, suggesting that additional loci might be needed to improve overall confidence across the evolutionary tree. We are currently in the process of collecting wax bloom chemistry data for the species sampled in our phylogeny using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Progress-to-date regarding the observed patterns of wax bloom abundance and composition across Kalanchoe, and related phylogenetic comparative analyses will be discussed.