CAPITULUM: The International Compositae Alliance Newsletter

The people you kill are doing quite well: The rediscovery of an “extinct” species described from the outskirts of Madrid (Spain), Carduncellus matritensis Pau (Cardueae)

Enrique Luengo

Juan M. Martínez Labarga

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1565-7454

Rubén de Pablo

Alfonso Susanna

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4717-9063

Roser Vilatersana

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5106-8764

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53875/capitulum.%2002.1.04

Keywords: Compositae, thistle

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Abstract

The fate of the enigmatic species Carduncellus matritensis looked clear when the type locality in Cerro Negro was razed by the growing of Madrid at the beginning of the XX century: it was officially listed as one of the six extinct species in the Red Book of the Spanish flora. The controversy on the identity of the taxon continued on the basis of the scarce and undeveloped samples gathered before the purported extinction and the species was not accepted by some specialists in the genus. One year ago, some relictic populations of an unknown species of Carduncellus were located in the surroundings of the Gran Madrid, 50 km south of the type locality. After careful review of the available materials and new gatherings, we conclude that Carduncellus matritensis did escape extinction and can be found on the same expansive clay soils that characterize the Cerro Negro. On morphological basis, we also conclude that it is a distinct species that cannot be reduced to any of the extant species of the genus.