BC Conservation Data Centre: Conservation Status Report
Neoholmgrenia andina
Andean evening-primrose
| Scientific Name: | Neoholmgrenia andina |
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Camissonia andina
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| English Name: | Andean evening-primrose |
| Provincial Status Summary | |
| Status: | S1 |
| Date Status Assigned: | April 30, 1996 |
| Date Last Reviewed: | April 30, 2019 |
| Reasons: | A total of 4 populations of Camissonia andina have been documented in BC, and only one may have good viabilty. All occurrences are in sagebrush steppe in south-central BC, with at least one on Crown land and one on private property. One may be on Crown land or within the city limits of Osoyoos and another (east Chopaka) may be on Crown land. Total population size for Camissonia andina in BC is estimated to be between 250-1000 individuals. Total range extent is approximately 70 square km, and total area of occupancy is estimated to be less than 300 square metres. The short-term trend is considered to be a decline of 25%, but long-term trends are unknown. Identifiable threats are livestock, urban development, and off-road vehicles. The scope, severity, and immediacy of threats is high. |
| Range | |
| Range Extent: | A = <100 square km |
| Range Extent Comments: | Range extent of known occurrences is 5.6 sq km (calculated using the alpha hull method), extending from the Chopaka area to east of Osoyoos. |
| Area of Occupancy (km2): | AC = 1-5 |
| Area of Occupancy Comments: | Using GIS tools, AOO index value is 4 cells (each 4 sq km) or 16 sq km. |
| Occurrences & Population | |
| Number of Occurrences: | A = 1 - 5 |
| Comments: | As of March, 2010, the total number of known occurrences of Andean Evening-primrose is 4. One in the east Chopaka area has been observed recently (2007), but it is unknown if the second in the west Chopaka area (last observed in 1997) or the three near Osoyoos are still extant (last observed in 1995 and 1996). |
| Number of Occurrences with Good Viability / Ecological Integrity: | B = 1 - 3 |
| Comments: | The east Chopaka occurrence appears to have good viabilty but needs to be resurveyed. There is no information on the viability of the three other occurrences. Herbarium specimens were made from these sites but details about viabilty were not made at that time. |
| Number of Occurrences Appropriately Protected & Managed: | C = 4 - 12 |
| Comments: | The East Chopaka occurrence is protected within the South Okanagan Grassland Protected area. None of the other sites are protected. One is near a construction site and part of that population has been built over in west Osoyoos (F. Lomer pers. comm. 2010) and the others on private and/or Crown land. |
| Population Size: | A = 1 - 50 individuals |
| Comments: | The total number of Andean Evening-primrose plants in BC is estimated to be between 1-50 individuals. Herbarium notes of F. Lomer (2007) stated that the population of Andean evening-primrose north of the Chopaka border crossing had about 10 plants in 1997, the same number of plants that he counted in 1995. In 2004, 3 plants were observed in the east Chopaka site. G. Douglas and J. Fenneman searched a 200 m by 100 m area and found no other plants. In 2007, at the same site, about 10 plants were observed. Lomer (1996) noted that there were abundant plants with small yellow flowers with reddish reflexed sepals in the east Osoyoos location. There are no additional population data for this species. |
| Threats (to population, occurrences, or area affected) | |
| Degree of Threat: | Substantial, imminent threat |
| Comments: | The scope, severity, and immediacy of threats is high, mainly because of the possibility of the complete loss of one of the known occurrences of Andean desert-primrose in west Osoyoos. The known threats are livestock, and urban development, and off-road vehicles in the west Osoyoos area. Livestock compact soils, increase soil erosion, and reduce plant vigour in seasonally wet sites, increasing the extent of mineral soils (T.McIntosh pers. comm. 2010). Also, invasive alien plant species usually increase with the increase of bare soil and the decrease in competition from native plants. Andean evening-primrose as well as other annual rare species known to exist in these habitats may be eradicated as their seed banks diminish. West Osoyoos is rapidly expanding and part of the population there has been lost and the remaining portion is threatened (F. Lomer pers. comm. 2010). These hills are frequently used by off-road vehicles, especially motorcycles, and they cause extensive local damage to the ground surface and to plants in some sites (T. McIntosh pers. comm. 2010). Other potential threats in the shrub-steppe and grassland preferred by this species would include water use by ranches or homes, recreational activities such as hiking, and pollution livestock waste runoff. |
| Trend (in population, range, area occupied, and/or condition of occurrences) | |
| Short-Term Trend: | HI = Increase of >10% |
| Comments: | The short-term trend is considered to be a decline of 25% (the possible loss of one population in west Osoyoos). The population of Andean Evening-primrose in east Chopaka appeared to increase from 3-10 plants in three years and the occurrence north of the Chopaka border crossing appeared relatively stable between 1995 and 1997. Two of the sites are in areas where livestock grazed intensively when visited (east Osoyoos and north of Chopaka) and another site is near a proposed development area (west Osoyoos) where there is also abundant disturbance by off-road vehicles (T. McIntosh, pers. comm. 2010). In 2007, grazing management in the east Chopaka area was designed to reduce the numbers of livestock in the protected area for 2 years (M. Weston, notes to CDC) so population size and extent may increase at this site. |
| Long-Term Trend: | U = Unknown |
| Comments: | Long-term trends are not known but may decline at three sites. One population is adjacent to a housing development and may be lost and the others are in areas of intensive livestock grazing. However, these sites have been grazed for many decades and the populations are persisting, at least up to the time of their last observation. |
| Other Factors | |
| Intrinsic Vulnerability: | B=Moderately vulnerable |
| Comments: | Because this is an annual species, it matures, flowers, and produces seeds quickly, and produces a seed bank that can help survive times of drought or disturbance events (Buck et al. 2007). Thus, populations may recover quickly from reduced numbers when conditions become more favorable. However, the numbers of plants in the provincial populations are low and they are restricted to isolated, small, probably specialized habitats, so recolonization may be difficult if they are extirpated from a site. There does not appear to be a lack of suitable habitat within its range, but microhabitat preferences have not been identified. |
| Environmental Specificity: | AB=Very narrow to narrow. |
| Comments: | Andean evening-primrose appears to live in both vernal pool-type habitats and in open dry steppe in BC (however, there may be spring seepage in some of those sites, but this was undocumented). Vernal pool plants are highly specialized and restricted to these ephemerally wet habitats (Buck et al. 2007). |
| Other Rank Considerations: | Annual species are not as apparent in unfavorable years as in times when climatic conditions are most favorable. Therefore, estimations of populations may vary due to enviromental factors and not necessarily disturbance. |
| Information Gaps | |
| Research Needs: | Research needs include assessing the size, extent, viability, trends, and habitat ecology of the known occurrences. Threats need to assessed at the known sites. A monitoring program should be designed and implemented. |
| Inventory Needs: | Many of the open, shrub-steppe sites preferred by this species along the border with the United States in the south Okanagan -Similkameen need to be inventoried for Andean evening-primrose. New sites need to be sought through targeted surveys in high potential habitat in late spring and early summer. More detailed surveys in known sites is recommended so that threats and accurate estimations of population size and health can be determined. Habitats need to be more clearly described and defined. The location of one of the sites (Ceska 1984 in west Chopaka) needs to be clarified. The population in west Osoyoos has been partially destroyed since its first observation in 1995 (Lomer, pers. comm. 2010). Inventory at this site should be completed in 2010 to see if it the population is still extant (Lomer, pers. comm. 2010, noted that housing construction is slated for the location of the remaining patch of this species). |
| Stewardship | |
| Protection: | One occurrence is in the east Chopaka portion of S. Okanagan Grassland Protected area and attempts are being made to protect the species there. The other occurrences need to be protected. |
| Management: | Protection needs are required to be evaluated after three of the populations are revisited and described. Protection can be achieved through voluntary stewardship agreements, purchase from willing sellers, and land use designations on Crown lands. A primary objective should be to protect all known populations. Maintaining multiple populations will help to mitigate the effects of catastrophic loss at any one site. Reserves should be large enough to maintain natural communities and ecological processes that sustain the plant populations. If protection of all populations is not considered feasible, sites could be prioritized based on numbers of plants present, productivity of site, and significance of site for maintaining species distribution (Cliff Paintbrush Recovery Team 2009). |
| Version | |
| Author: | McIntosh, T.T. |
| Date: | March 15, 2010 |
| References | |
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British Columbia Conservation Data Centre. Botany Program. 2000. Database containing records of rare plant collections and observations in the province of British Columbia.
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Cliff Paintbrush Recovery Team. 2009. Recovery strategy for cliff paintbrush (Castilleja rupicola) in British Columbia. Prepared for the B.C. Minist. of Environ., Victoria, BC. 18 pp.
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for information on how the CDC determines conservation status ranks. For global conservation status reports and ranks, please visit the NatureServe website http://www.natureserve.org/.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2010. Conservation Status Report: Neoholmgrenia andina. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 8, 2026).