Plaster's Green Meadows () is a 4.3

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of

Nempnett Thrubwell Nempnett Thrubwell is a small village and civil parish in dairying country on the western edge of Bath and North East Somerset, in the county of Somerset, England. It is about 15 km south-west of Bristol. The parish, which has a population ...

Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a unitary authority district in England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. It is part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. Th ...

, notified in 1989. This is an area of unimproved and traditionally managed species-rich meadows which support a neutral grassland community of a type which is now rare throughout Britain. The site is situated on the slopes fringing the

Lias Lias may refer to: Geology * Lias Formation, a geologic formation in France *Lias Group, a lithostratigraphic unit in western Europe * Early Jurassic, an epoch People * Godfrey Lias, British author * Mohd Shamsudin Lias (born 1953), Malaysian ...

Tablelands and is underlain by

Rhaetic Rhaetic or Raetic (), also known as Rhaetian, was a language spoken in the ancient region of Rhaetia in the eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times. It is documented by around 280 texts dated from the 5th up until the 1st century BC, which wer ...

clays and, lower down the slope Keuper Red Marl. The slowly permeable clay soils are slightly calcareous in nature and this is reflected in elements of the flora. The site is characterised by the nationally rare Common Knapweed (''Centaurea nigra'') and Crested Dog’s-tail (''Cynosurus cristatus'') and dominant grasses include Sweet Vernal-grass (''Anthoxanthum odoratum''), Crested Dog’s-tail and

Yorkshire Fog ''Holcus lanatus'' is a perennial grass. The specific epithet ' is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In North America, where it is an invasive sp ...

(''Holcus lanatus''), while

Quaking Grass ''Briza'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family, native to northern temperate regions of Eurasia, North Africa, and certain islands in the Atlantic. The group is generally referred to as the quaking grasses because the ...

(''Briza media'') and Yellow Oat-grass (''Trisetum flavescens'') are also frequent. There is a high component of herb species throughout the meadows including

Saw-wort ''Serratula tinctoria'', commonly known as dyer's plumeless saw-wort or saw-wort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a native of Europe with a thistle-like flower head. It grows in moist soil, full sun to part shade, ...

(''Serratuta tinctoria''), Dyer’s Greenweed (''Genista tinctoria''), Common Knapweed,

Pepper-saxifrage ''Silaum silaus'', commonly known as pepper-saxifrage, is a perennial plant in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) (the carrot family) found across south-eastern, central, and western Europe, including the British Isles. It grows in damp grasslan ...

(''Silaum silaus''), Devil’s-bit Scabious (''Succisa pratensis''),

Betony Betony is a common name for a plant which may refer to: *''Stachys'', a genus of plants containing several species commonly known as betony in Europe **'' Stachys officinalis'', a historically important medicinal plant *''Pedicularis ''Pedicular ...

(''Stachys officinalis'') and

Spiny Restharrow ''Ononis spinosa'' is a plant belonging to the family Fabaceae, that is commonly known as spiny restharrow or just restharrow. It is found throughout much of Europe including Britain, but seldom as far north as Scotland. Description Spiny rest ...

(''Ononis spinosa''). The calcareous nature of the soil is reflected by the presence of Cowslip (''Primula veris''), Fairy Flax (''Linum catharticum''),

Glaucous Sedge ''Carex flacca'', with common names blue sedge, gray carex, glaucous sedge, or carnation-grass, (syn. ''Carex glauca''), is a species of sedge native to parts of Europe and North Africa.

(''Carex flacca''),

Lady’s Bedstraw ''Galium verum'' (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Israel, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kamchatka. It is ...

(''Galium verum'') and occasional

Salad Burnet ''Sanguisorba minor'', the salad burnet, garden burnet, small burnet, burnet (also used for ''Sanguisorba'' generally), pimpernelle, Toper's plant, and burnet-bloodwort, is an edible perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae. It has fe ...

(''Sanguisorba minor''). The meadows are bounded by hedges supporting numerous species including

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 ...

(''

Crataegus monogyna ''Crataegus monogyna'', known as common hawthorn, one-seed hawthorn, or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe, northwestern Africa, and West Asia, but has been introduced in ...

''), Wych Elm (''Ulmus glabra''), English Elm (''Ulmus procera''),

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). ...

(''Corylus avellana'') and Field Maple (''Acer campestre''). Hedgerow 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 ...

(''Fraxinus excelsior''), Sweet Chestnut (''Castanea sativa''), Holly (''Ilex aquifolium'') and

Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

(''Quercus spp.'').

Sources

English Nature citation sheet for the site
(accessed 16 July 2006) {{Chew Valley Bath and North East Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1989 Neutral grassland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Meadows in Somerset