What is the origin of the Scottish populations of the European endemic Cherleria sedoides (Caryophyllaceae)?

2015

Cherleria sedoides L. (Minuartia sedoides (L.) Hiern) is a montane perennial which, with some species in Minuartia sect. Spectabiles, is more closely related to Scleranthus than to other Minuartia species and is therefore best restored to the reinstated and redefined genus Cherleria. Reconstruction of the ancestral area of the clade containing C. sedoides suggests that it evolved in the Alps or the Balkan peninsula. The species now has an unusual distribution, being present in the mountains of southern Europe and Scotland but absent from the Arctic. Three historical scenarios that might have led to the presence of the species in Scotland are outlined and tested by a molecular analysis compa…