Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, notified in 1985.Natural England SSSI information on the citation /ref> The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
The site is in the Wye ValleyArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is to the east (see map) of
Highbury Wood
Highbury Wood () is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1983.
The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Location
The site, which is also a nationa ...
National Nature Reserve (NNR).
Wye Valley Woodlands/ Coetiroedd Dyffryn Gwy are recognised as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive.
Habitat and flora
The site is part of one of the most important areas for woodland conservation in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, as the woods are semi-natural, and there is a continuity along the Lower Wye Gorge (which is also notified as an SSSI). The tree species comprise many different types and the area supports many rare and local species. The individual woods are part of a matrix of various habitats (semi natural and unimproved grassland).
The wood is mainly on
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
Limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
and has Old Red Sandstone on the lower slopes. It is considered one of the finest examples of rich calceaous mixed coppice in the area. Trees include
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 ...
Sessile Oak
''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...
and Field Maple. The woodland is managed coppice.
The ground flora includes
Dog's Mercury
''Mercurialis perennis'', commonly known as dog's mercury, is a poisonous woodland plant found in much of Europe as well as in Algeria, Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland.Bramble and
Hart's-tongue Fern
''Asplenium scolopendrium'', commonly known as the hart's-tongue fern, is an evergreen fern in the genus ''Asplenium'' native to the Northern Hemisphere.
Description
The most striking and unusual feature of the fern is its simple, undivided fron ...
Spurge Laurel
''Daphne laureola'', commonly called spurge-laurel, is a shrub in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae. Despite the name, this woodland plant is neither a spurge nor a laurel. Its native range covers much of Europe and extends to Algeria, Mo ...
and some
Wild Daffodil
''Narcissus pseudonarcissus'' (commonly known as wild daffodil or Lent lily) (Welsh: Cennin Pedr) is a perennial flowering plant.
This species has pale yellow tepals, with a darker central trumpet. The long, narrow leaves are slightly greyis ...
. There are various varieties of mosses and liverworts recorded.