Burton Common

Also within

Hampshire County NEW FOREST National Park

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Description

Description A substantial tract of mature dry heath on relatively free draining soils. About 25 percent of the area has been colonised by Scot’s pine Pinus sylvestris to varying densities and a belt of mixed deciduous woodland flanking a stream traverses the site. The heather Calluna vulgaris is considerably older than in any known New Forest site and the older plants are degenerate, giving way to a luxuriant bryophyte and lichen flora in which young heather plants are colonising. Both in its age structure and in the absence of grazing, the site provides a sharp ecological contrast with the nearby New Forest. Notably, dwarf gorse Ulex minor a species removed by grazing in the New Forest is co-dominant with heather over wide areas. The Common supports populations of sand lizards Lacerta agilis and smooth snakes Coronella austriaca, which are essentially associated with the mature, dry heath and is one of only three known sites for the former in the New Forest area.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Plant communities