Twenty-five Acre Wood

Also within

Powys County

Habitats

Bracken scrub

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Ordovician

Description

Description A gently sloping south-facing oakwood developed on acidic, poorly draining clay overlying Ordovician strata. It has close affinities with the lowland hazel-sessile oak facies of the acid birch/oak woodland grouping. The wood is largely composed of mature maiden trees of oak with occasional alder and birch. Grazing in the southern portion is light and in the northern part is largely confined to winter and early spring. In winter cattle are fed in the northern part, but poaching of the soil is only localised. There is a well developed diverse shrub and ground flora. Damper areas support species such as meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria, common valerian Valeriana officinalis and sanicle Sanicula europaea, whilst yellow pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum is generally abundant. Dry areas tend to be less species-rich with only occasional bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta in a predominant grass layer with wood stitchwort Stellaria nemorum and local occurrences of bracken Pteridium aquilinum.

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