Narrow endemics in Mediterranean scrublands: high gene flow buffers genetic impoverishment in the annual monospecific Castrilanthemum (Asteraceae)

Castrilanthemum debeauxii is a critically endangered annual plant narrowly distributed in mountains of SE Iberia. It occurs in spiny scrublands on limestone soils dominated by Erinacea anthyllis at medium altitudes. Phylogenetic results indicate that the monotypic Castrilanthemum constitutes a paleoendemic lineage that diverged from its closest extant relatives in the Miocene. To achieve a better understanding of its recent evolution and...