Abstract Flower colour has played a decisive role as an evolutionary force in many groups of plants by driving speciation. A well-known example polymorphism is found across the Mediterranean populations Lysimachia arvensis and L. monelli, which blue- red-flowered can be found. Previous studies recognized two lineages within differing flower colour, but this variation not yet been considered phy...

BACKGROUND Synonymous DNA substitution rates in the plant chloroplast genome are generally relatively slow and lineage dependent. Non-synonymous rates are usually even slower due to purifying selection acting on the genes. Positive selection is expected to speed up non-synonymous substitution rates, whereas synonymous rates are expected to be unaffected. Until recently, positive selection has s...

Photo 1. The Sierra de Cazorla mountains in southeastern Spain, where the study was carried out. area is characterized by rugged topography, high habitat and species diversity, outstanding degree of preservation natural vegetation. credit: Carlos M. Herrera. 2. As many other mountain areas from mid-latitudes Holarctic realm, flowering season plant communities starts well before end winter, when...