Dauphinea is a genus name in the mint family (Lamiaceae) that was, until recently, considered to hold a single species, Dauphinea brevilabra, described by the botanist Ian Hedge in 1983 (Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 41: 119). It belongs to the subtribe Plectranthinae within Lamiaceae, a large group of mostly herbaceous and shrubby plants best known for aromatic genera such as Plectranthus and Coleus.
Molecular phylogenetic work by Paton and colleagues (a 2018 study followed by a summary cladogram published in 2019) examined relationships within Plectranthinae and found that several small, formerly monotypic Madagascan genera did not form their own distinct lineages. Dauphinea, together with Madlabium and Perrierastrum, was found nested within a clade alongside species already placed in the genus Capitanopsis. As a result, all three genera were subsumed into an expanded Capitanopsis, and Dauphinea brevilabra was formally transferred and renamed Capitanopsis brevilabra (Hedge) Mwany., A.J.Paton & Culham. This taxonomic conclusion is reflected in the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which lists Dauphinea Hedge as a synonym of Capitanopsis S.Moore, with Dauphinea brevilabra correspondingly treated as a synonym of Capitanopsis brevilabra.
The expanded Capitanopsis, of which the former Dauphinea is now a part, comprises six recognized species, all endemic to Madagascar, and is regarded as the sister lineage to the more recently established genus Equilabium. Because it is no longer an accepted genus, Dauphinea itself has no currently accepted descendant taxa, but its single species remains botanically significant as an example of how DNA-based phylogenetic analysis has reshaped generic boundaries within Madagascar's Lamiaceae flora.
Distribution
The genus's single species, Dauphinea brevilabra (now Capitanopsis brevilabra), is endemic to Madagascar, as are all other species of Capitanopsis.
Taxonomy Notes
Dauphinea Hedge (1983) was a monotypic genus containing only Dauphinea brevilabra. A 2018 molecular phylogenetic study of subtribe Plectranthinae (summarized by Paton et al. in 2019) found Dauphinea, along with the other monotypic genera Madlabium and Perrierastrum, nested within Capitanopsis. All three were consequently synonymized under an expanded Capitanopsis, with Dauphinea brevilabra renamed Capitanopsis brevilabra (Hedge) Mwany., A.J.Paton & Culham. GBIF's Backbone Taxonomy and species-match API both confirm Dauphinea (genus) and Dauphinea brevilabra (species) as synonyms of Capitanopsis and Capitanopsis brevilabra, respectively.
History
Dauphinea was described by Ian Hedge and published in Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 41: 119 in 1983. It was reclassified into Capitanopsis following phylogenetic work published in 2018/2019.
