This species is endemic to the southern Iberian Peninsula. It is described as being very rare in Portugal, where it is Critically Endangered. It is assessed here as Vulnerable [B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(ii,iii,iv,v)] as the extent of occurrence (EOO) is estimated to be less than 20,000 km² and the area of occupancy (AOO) estimated to be very much less than 500 km² (but more than 10 km²). It is known from fewer than 10 locations, and it is known or inferred to be undergoing continuing decline in terms of its AOO, the extent and quality of habitat, the number of locations and subpopulations, and the number of mature individuals.

This species is endemic to the south-western Iberian Peninsula and has a restricted distribution, with a single area of occurrence in the Algarve, southern Portugal (Sotavento Algarvio, Faro area) and coastal parts of Huelva and Cadiz provinces in southern Spain.

Throughout its range, populations of this species are small and vulnerable to a range of threats. It is described as very rare and assessed as Critically Endangered in Portugal (Carapeto et al. 2020, Flora-On 2022) and classed as Vulnerable in Spain (Cabezudo et al. 2005). A number of populations disappeared from former strongholds in recent decades (Flora-On 2022) and it is considered to be undergoing continuing decline throughout its range.

This species occurs on the margins of seasonally inundated sandy depressions in grassland, it is described as occurring (together with hybrids between this species and A. hispalensis) in a Loto-subbiflori-Chaetopogonetum fasciculati association (Guillón et al. 2016).

This species is threatened directly by coastal development, conversion of land to agriculture and provision of services to these land-uses, as well as severely threatened by the secondary effects of coastal development, such as over-exploitation of groundwater.

There is no evidence that this species is used.

Present in a number of coastal reserves, including the Parque Nacional de Doñana in Spain and the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa in Portugal. This species is classed as Vulnerable in Andalucía (Guillón et al. 2016) and in Spain overall (Moreno 2008). In Portugal, only a single subpopulation near Faro is known, and it is assessed as Critically Endangered there (Carapeto et al. 2020).

Some conservation work is underway, including reintroduction with varying degrees of success. This species occurs in protected areas such as the Parque Nacional de Donana, but this does not guarantee protection from some of the most severe threats.