The course of male meiosis was studied in six species of Abutilon collected from different localities in North-West India. Abutilon bidentatum, A. indicum, A. muticum, A. pannosum and A. theophrasti showed gametic chromosome number n=21 and were found to be hexaploid (6x). A. ramosum was found to be diploid (2x) with chromosome number n=8. A. muticum (n=21) has been worked out for the first time. The present study revealed that genus Abutilon is dibasic having basic chromosome numbers x=7 and 8. The genetic divergence among the selected accessions of six species of Abutilon was analyzed by using ITS of rDNA as a DNA marker. The sequences of ITS showed divergence at 126 nucleotide positions. Two major clades of Abutilon species were resolved in the phylogenetic tree with basic chromosome numbers x=7 and 8. A. ramosum (x=8) lies genetically between Abutilon species with x=7 and those species of Abutilon already shifted to genus Callianthe with x=8.