Ellenborough Park, Weston-super-Mare

The park is situated inland from Weston-super-Mare beach, on a site which was formerly part of a sand dune system of the Bristol Channel. The soil here is calcareous and sandy, and the short-turf grassland which is supports is believed to be remnant dune grassland from this dune system, which was enclosed in the 19th century. ==Vegetation==

The species composition of this grassland includes the following grasses: Sand Cat's-tail (Phleum arenarium), Red Fescue (Festuca rubra), Sea Fern-grass (Desmazeria marina) and Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata). Herb species present include Sea Stork's-bill (Erodium maritimum), Buck's-horn Plantain (Plantago coronopus), Rough Clover (Trifolium scabrum), all of which are indicative of a maritime influence, plus Wild Clary (Salvia verbenaca), Smooth Hawk's-beard (Crepis capillaris) and Pink-sorrel (Oxalis articulata). Ellenborough Park supports two Red Data Book plants, Branched Horsetail (Equisetum ramosissimum) and Smooth Rupturewort (Herniaria glabra). Branched Horsetail is only found in one other locality in Great Britain, in Lincolnshire. Smooth Rupturewort is found in eight other localities in Britain, all in East Anglia. ==References==