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The plant-specific TCP family proteins play an important role in the processes of plant growth and development. <i>Broussonetia papyrifera</i> is a versatile perennial deciduous tree, and its genome data have been published. However, no comprehensive analysis of the <i>TCP</i> gene family in <i>B. papyrifera</i> has been undertaken. In this study, 20 <i>BpTCP</i> genes (<i>BpTCPs</i>) were identified in the <i>B. papyrifera</i> genome. Phylogenetic analysis divided <i>BpTCPs</i> into three subclades, the PCF subclade, the CIN subclade and the CYC/TB1 subclade. Gene structure analysis displayed that all <i>BpTCPs</i> except <i>BpTCP19</i> contained one coding region. Conserved motif analysis showed that BpTCP proteins in the same subclade possessed similar motif structures. Segmental duplication was the primary driving force for the expansion of <i>BpTCPs</i>. Expression patterns showed that <i>BpTCPs</i> may play diverse biological functions in organ or tissue development. Transcriptional activation activity analysis of BpTCP8, BpTCP14 and BpTCP19 showed that they possessed transcriptional activation ability. The ectopic expression analysis in <i>Arabidopsis</i> wild-type and <i>AtBRC1</i> ortholog mutant showed that <i>BpTCP8</i>, <i>BpTCP14</i> and <i>BpTCP19</i> could prevent rosette branch outgrowth. Collectively, our study not only established the first genome-wide analysis of the <i>B. papyrifera TCP</i> gene family, but also provided valuable information for understanding the function of <i>BpTCPs</i> in shoot branching.