Hornsleasow Roughs () is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in

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 ...

, notified in 1954.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
/ref> The site is listed in the 'Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011', adopted March 2006, Appendix 3 'Nature Conservation',' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Location

The site lies in the

Cotswold The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Juras ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is nationally important

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

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 ...

grassland which supports locally rare plants. The majority of the site overlies old limestone workings, resulting in uneven terrain.

Flora

The grassland is unimproved and varies according to depth of soil, angle of the slope and the aspect. This is an area which is grazed by sheep or cattle. The site supports the nationally rare perfoliate pennycress and other rare plant life such as Curtis' mouse-ear, early gentian, field fleawort and

burnt orchid ''Neotinea ustulata'' (syn. ''Orchis ustula''), the burnt orchid or burnt-tip orchid, is a European terrestrial orchid native to mountains in central and southern Europe, growing at up to elevation. The plant is considered Endangered in Great Br ...

. The Natural England assessment report of July 2011 indicates the range of orchid species expected for the site.Natural England SSSI information on the Hornsleasow Roughs unit
/ref>

Invertebrates

The site is also important for its butterflies and recorded are such species as

green hairstreak The green hairstreak (''Callophrys rubi'') is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Etymology The genus name '' Callophrys'' is a Greek word meaning "beautiful eyebrows", while the species Latin name ''rubi'' derives from ''Rubus'' (bramb ...

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Hornsleasow Roughs unit

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1954 Cotswolds {{England-SSSI-stub