The evolution of ephemeral flora in Xinjiang, China: insights from plastid phylogenomic analyses of Brassicaceae.

Background: The ephemeral flora of northern Xinjiang, China, plays an important role in the desert ecosystems. However, the evolutionary history of this flora remains unclear. To gain new insights into its origin and evolutionary dynamics, we comprehensively sampled ephemeral plants of Brassicaceae, one of the essential plant groups of the ephemeral flora.