Burbage Wood and Aston Firs is a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

Overview

These semi-natural woods on poorly drained soils are dominated by

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

and oak.

Hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

and

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

are common in the shrub layer, and there are flowers such as

sweet woodruff ''Galium odoratum'', the sweet woodruff or sweetscented bedstraw, is a flowering perennial plant in the family Rubiaceae, native to much of Europe from Spain and Ireland to Russia, as well as Western Siberia, Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus, China an ...

and

water avens ''Geum rivale'', the water avens, is a flowering plant in the genus ''Geum'' within the family Rosaceae. Other names for the plant are nodding avens, drooping avens, cure-all, water flower and Indian chocolate. It is native to the temperate regio ...

. There is public access to Burbage Wood, but Aston Firs is private. Burbage Wood is part of Burbage Common and Woods, an 85 hectare Local Nature Reserve. The nature reserve is owned by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council who manage it as a nature reserve and a public park. The Common is unimproved heath-grassland and is historically common land. Such heathland was common in this area until land use changes in the 19th century.

References

External links

Official website
{{Local Nature Reserves in Leicestershire Local Nature Reserves in Leicestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire Country parks in Leicestershire Hinckley and Bosworth Common land in England