The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors form a large gene family that is important in pathogen defense, light and stress signaling, etc. The Completed whole genome sequences of model plants Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), rice (Oryza sativa) and poplar (Populus trichocarpa) constitute a valuable resource for genome-wide analysis and genomic comparative analysis, as they are representatives of the two major evolutionary lineages within the angiosperms: the monocotyledons and the dicotyledons. In this study, bioinformatics analysis identified 74, 89 and 88 bZIP genes respectively in Arabidopsis, rice and poplar. Moreover, a comprehensive overview of this gene family is presented, including the gene structure, phylogeny, chromosome distribution, conserved motifs. As a result, the plant bZIPs were organized into 10 subfamilies on basis of phylogenetic relationship. Gene duplication events during the family evolution history were also investigated. And it was further concluded that chromosomal/segmental duplication might have played a key role in gene expansion of bZIP gene family.