The first recognised published description of
Heliophila appears in the second edition of
Species Plantarum by
Carl Linnaeus, printed in 1763. He attributes his description, however, to
Nicolaas Laurens Burman, a Dutch botanist. The
generic name Heliophila is Latin but originally derived from the
Ancient Greek words
hēlios (ἥλιος), meaning "sun", and
phílos (φίλος), meaning "dear" or "beloved", and refers to the blooms opening in sun and closing at night or in overcast conditions, a habit of many of the species within the genus. In general, contention abounds regarding phylogenetic relationships in the family Brassicaceae. In the past, using morphological characters to establish tribes and genera was misleading and created dissension among
systematists. The classification of species within Brassicaceae is gradually resolving through
molecular phylogeny investigation, using
internal transcribed spacer (ITS) data and other new-found sequencing knowledge. Previously there were six genera within the tribe Heliophileae, all endemic to southern Africa:
Heliophila,
Cycloptychis,
Schlechteri,
Silicularia,
Thlaspeocarpa, and
Brachycarpaea. The latter five genera contained among them only seven species, having been differentiated from the genus
Heliophila mainly on morphological differences in the fruits they bore. Following extensive analysis of molecular evidence (nuclear (ITS) and plastid (trnL-F) DNA sequence data), Heliophileae was found to be monophyletic and the five small genera were reduced to synonymy with
Heliophila. ==Distribution==