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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Neoholmgrenia andina
Andean evening-primrose

 
Scientific Name: Neoholmgrenia andina (Nutt.) W.L. Wagner & Hoch
Scientific Name Synonyms: Camissonia andina
English Name: Andean evening-primrose
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vascular Plant
Species Code: NEOHAND
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Plantae Anthophyta Dicotyledoneae Myrtales Onagraceae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G4 (Jul 1986)
Provincial Status: S1 (Apr 2019)
BC List: Red
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 2 - May be at risk (2010)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description: Obscure Evening-primrose is a small annual herb with stems, 3-15 cm high, that branch from the base and make the plant broader than it is tall. The strap-shaped leaves, 5-25 mm long, are clustered at the base of the plant and at the upper portions of the stems. Foliage is finely hairy. Tiny flowers are attached to the stem at the base of upper leaves. The 4 separate, yellow petals are 1-2 mm long, and the 4 sepals are reflexed. The stigma is ball-shaped. Petals and sepals are attached at the top of the ovary, which matures into a narrowly club-shaped capsule, 4-8 mm long, with the widest point attached to the stem.
Technical Description:
Diagnostic Characteristics: C. ANDINA can be distinguished from other annual members of the genus by the small, yellow petals, ca. 2 mm long, and by its sessile capsules. A hand lens may be necessary for positive determination.
Similar Species:
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Grassland/Shrub / Grassland / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Sagebrush Steppe / Facultative - frequent use
Other Unique Habitats / Vernal Pools/Seasonal Seeps / Facultative - frequent use
Provincial Habitat Comments: Andean evening-primrose is found in what appears to be two types of shrub-steppe and grassland habitats in the BG (Bunchgrass) Biogeoclimatic Zone in the southern Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys: one is on clay or silt rich, seasonally moist soil near depressions and the other is on dry soil. Lomer's 1995 habitat data from west Chopaka are: 'Plants in slightly alkaline meadow, at eroded edge of dirt track through sagebrush flats' and his 1997 habitat data from the same site are 'Steppe at edge of alkaline depression on eroded bare ground with Plantago patagonica, Bromus tectorum, Linanthus septentrionalis, and Vulpia octoflora. The other habitat appears to be dry, steppe, or grassland soils. Ceska (1984 herbarium data from west Chopaka) notes that Andean evening-primrose was found in steppe with Artemisia tridentata. East Chopaka habitat data include, from 2004: 'On bare mineral soil around edge of rocky outcrops in grassland' and from 2007: 'open, dry, midslope, SW, 30 degree slope, bluebunch/balsamroot community, lupine, sage, and brome present, some bare soil; no noxious weeds; no impact from people or cattle.' The habitat in west Osoyoos was described as on an eroded slope on Stipa - sagebrush hills, on an eroded slope south of a golf course. In California it grows on generally clay soil in seasonally moist flats in sagebrush scrub (Hickman 1993).
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Elevation (m) (min / max): Provincial: 
Known Pests:
Pollen Vector:
Pollinator:
Dispersal:
   
 
Provincial Inventory
Inventory Priority:
Ownership of occurrences (Known locations):
Inventory Need:
 
Economic Attributes
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: South-central B.C. to n. CA, east to Alta., w. MT, WY, and UT. Peripheral.
Disjunct, more common elsewhere:
Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere:
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: JM
Last Updated: Oct 08, 1994
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
Last Literature Search:
   
References and Related Literature
Buck, J., S. Starr, C. Witham, A. Solomeshch, R. MacDonald, M. Barbour, and R. Holland. 2007. Resistance and resilience of vernal pool vegetation. pp 3-11 in: Vernal Pool Landscapes. Schlising, R.A. and D.A. Alexander (eds.). Studies from the Herbarium 14. California State University.
Caldwell, J. 2004. Native annual plants of San Francisco. Available at: http://jeffreycaldwell.blogspot.com/2004/12/native-annual-plants-of-san-francisco.html. (accessed March 2010).
COSEWIC. 2006c. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the contorted-pod evening-primrose Camissonia contorta in Canada. Comm. on the Status of Endangered Wildl. in Can. Ottawa. vi + 21 pp.
Douglas, G.W. 2004. Excel spreadsheet on 2004 field work done in southern BC by Douglas Ecological Consultants Ltd. (G.W. Douglas, S. Smith, J. Fenneman and H. Janszen).
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Penny. 2002. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia, 2nd ed. B.C. Conserv. Data Centre, Terrestrial Inf. Branch, Victoria. 358pp.
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar. eds. 1999. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Dicotyledons (Diapensiaceae through Onagraceae). B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Minist. For., Victoria. 423pp.
Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: Higher plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1400 pp.
Hitchcock, C.L. and A. Cronquist. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA.
Lesica, P. and P. L. Achuff. 1992. Distribution of vascular plant species of special concern and limited distribution in the Pryor Mountain desert, Carbon County, Montana. Unpublished report to the Bureau of Land Management. Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, MT. 105 pp.
NatureServe. 2010. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer (Accessed: March, 2010).
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Neoholmgrenia andina. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 8, 2026).