Primula scotica is a low perennial or sometimes biennial plant[3]: 548  only a few centimetres tall, even when in full bloom, with mealy stems and leaves.

[6] A survey in 2008 found the Scottish primrose to be present at 194 sites from Durness in Sutherland to Dunbeath in north eastern Caithness.

[7] The majority of the sites where this species occurs are within a few hundred metres of the sea and there is normally a mosaic of heath, grassland and rocky outcrops.

This species requires short vegetation to survive and can often be a coloniser of small areas of bare soil, for example in the slots made by the hoofs of ungulates.

[4] Conservation of a few sites with appropriate management, such as grazing, should secure this rare plant which has low genetic diversity.