Whitevine Meadows is a 13.0 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 (32.0 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of North

North Perrott

North Perrott is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset.-History:The name Perrott comes from the River Parrett.There is evidence of Roman and Iron Age settlement in the village....

 and South Perrott

South Perrott

South Perrott is a village in northwest Dorset, England, two miles south east of Crewkerne. The village has a population of 247 .The name Perrott comes from the River Parrett.The manor was held with North Perrott just over the border in Somerset....

 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 1979.

This site consists of a nationally rare type of neutral 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...

 together with adjoining areas of scrub and 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...

. The Whitevine meadow is unusual in being one of only three British localities where the grass Gaudinia fragilis is a prominent and established component of the sward. The scrub provides nest sites for several species of bird, including 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 megarhynchos). Clearings within the scrub support a mixed Flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

 with Saw-wort

Saussurea

Saussurea is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of Asia, Europe, and North America, with the highest diversity in alpine habitats in the Himalaya and central Asia...

 (Serratula tinctoria), Yellow-wort (Blackstonia perfoliata) and Autumn Gentian

Gentian

Gentiana is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Gentian family , tribe Gentianeae and monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species, it is considered a large genus.-Habitat:...

 (Gentianella amarella). These sheltered glades provide favourable climatic conditions for butterflies including Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) and Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Argynnis paphia is a common and variable butterfly found over much of the Palaearctic ecozone – Algeria, Europe, temperate Asia and Japan.-Subspecies:*A. p. butleri Krulikovsky, 1909 Northern Europe, Central Europe...

(Argynnis paphia).