On Friday 23rd June 2006 Rachel O'Hara from
Surrey Wildlife Trust and John Arnott from Merrist Wood College, carried out a visual inspection of the hay meadow. The variety of plants was considered to be good, with thirty-one species recorded. The proportion of flowers to grasses was high, being as great as 60% flowers in a considerable portion of the area. The species indicated a damp meadow in the central area next to the housing estate with dry meadow elsewhere.
The list of species is given below with a subjective measure of relative abundance:
frequent = widespread throughout the area
occasional = encountered in smaller numbers
rare = only one or two individual plants found
Grasses
Creeping bent - locally frequent
Meadow foxtail - occasional
Sweet vernal-grass - frequent
False oatgrass - frequent
Cocksfoot - locally frequent
Red fescue - frequent
Yorkshire-fog - frequent
Creeping soft-grass - locally frequent
Rough meadow-grass - frequent
Flowers
Hairy sedge - rare
Common knapweed - frequent
Cat's-ear - rare
Sharp-flowered rush - locally frequent
Compact rush - occasional
Soft rush - rare
Meadow vetchling - frequent
Common Bird's-foot-trefoil - occasional
Greater bird's-foot-trefoil - frequent
Field woodrush - rare
Ribwort plantain - occasional
Meadow buttercup - occasional
Creeping buttercup - occasional
Common sorrel - frequent
Common ragwort - rare
Lesser stitchwort - frequent
Red clover - rare
White clover - locally frequent
Tufted vetch - locally frequent
Hedge bindweed - frequent
Pedunculate oak seedlings - occasional
Aspen suckers - frequent