Ruttersleigh is a 97 hectares (239.7 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Buckland St Mary

Buckland St Mary

Buckland St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated to the west of Ilminster and south of Taunton in the South Somerset district, close to the A303. The village has a population of 559...

 and Staple Fitzpaine

Staple Fitzpaine

Staple Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The village has a population of 151 and is within the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...

 on the north-facing slope of the Blackdown Hills

Blackdown Hills

The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1991....

. in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, notified in 1991.

This site comprises a mosaic of broadleaved woodland, scrub, bracken, mires and unimproved grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

 which provides the habitat for several species of butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 which are now scarce in Britain. The site is also important for its lichens. The ground flora includes a number of species normally found only in ancient woodland

Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...

 such as Woodruff (Galium odoratum) and Wood Anemone

Anemone nemorosa

Anemone nemorosa is an early-spring flowering plant in the genus Anemone in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe. Common names include wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed and smell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves...

 (Anemone nemorosa). Wood Horsetail

Wood Horsetail

The wood horsetail is a horsetail native to the Northern Hemisphere, occurring in North America and Eurasia...

 (Equisetum sylvaticum), which is rare in Somerset, is abundant and widespread on this site also being found in the areas of Bracken

Bracken

Bracken are several species of large, coarse ferns of the genus Pteridium. Ferns are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells . Brackens are in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, which are noted for their large, highly...

 (Pteridium aquilinum). The epiphytic lichen flora is also typical of ancient woodland and includes species such as Lobaria pulmonaria

Lobaria

Lobaria is a genus of lichens commonly known as "lungwort" or "lung moss" as their physical shape somewhat resembles a lung. Lobaria species are unusual in that they have a three-part symbiosis, containing a fungus, an alga and a cyanobacterium, the presence of the cyanobacterium allowing nitrogen...

. The nationally scarce Opegrapha corticola and the nationally rare Chaenotheca stemonea also occur. The woodland rides and glades provide ideal habitat for the nationally scarce Wood White (Leptidea sinapsis) butterfly, this site having by far the strongest colony known in Somerset. The grassland provides habitat for the nationally scarce Marsh Fritillary

Marsh Fritillary

The Marsh Fritillary, Euphydryas aurinia, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.It is widespread in the Palaearctic region from Ireland in the West to Yakutia in the East, and to North-west China and Mongolia in the South.E. aurinia is represented by many subspecies.The most widely accepted...

 (Eurodryas aurinia) butterfly. The breeding birds include Nightingale

Nightingale

The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...

 (Luscinia megarhyches), Redstart

Redstart

Redstarts are a group of small Old World birds. They were formerly classified in the thrush family , but are now known to be part of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae...

 (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) and Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

The Wood Warbler is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe, and just into the extreme west of Asia in the southern Ural Mountains...

 (Phylloscopus sibilatrix). Adder (Vipera berus

Vipera berus

Vipera berus, the common European adder or common European viper, is a venomous viper species that is extremely widespread and can be found throughout most of Western Europe and all the way to Far East Asia. Known by a host of common names including Common adder and Common viper, adders have been...

), Grass Snake

Grass Snake

The grass snake , sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake is a European non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.-Etymology:...

 (Natrix helvetica), Slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) and Common Lizard (Lacerta vivipara) have all been recorded from the site.