COUNTRYSIDE COUNCIL FOR WALES
SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST: CITATION
ANGLESEY PENRHOS LLIGWY
National Grid Reference: i) Northern Part, SH485857
ii) Southern Part, SH481848
Site Area: 23.7 ha
This site is selected as an inland example of lowland heathland habitat associated with an area of Carboniferous Sandstone in north-eastern Anglesey.
The principal heathland shrubs present are heather Calluna vulgaris, cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix, bell heather Erica cinerea and western gorse Ulex gallii; other species which are abundant in places include purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea, deer-grass Trichoghorum cespitosum and creeping willow Salix repens. There is also a population of marsh gentian Gentiana pneumonanthe on the heath; this is a heathland species which has markedly decreased over the country as a whole in recent years. Mire vegetation occurs locally in the vicinity of small streams and springs; where such areas are flushed with base-rich ground water fen communities occur with species such as black bog-rush Schoenus nigricans and grass-of-Parnassus Parnassia palustris.