There is a range of grassland types in the Yorkshire Dales National Park ranging from the traditional meadows and pastures in the dale bottoms through the extensive limestone grasslands in the south and the upland acidic grasslands on the open moorland. These support a diverse range of species adapted to cope with the different soil types and altitudes.
Meadows, enclosed pastures and unimproved grasslands
Yellow rattle andMeadow buttercup
in a lowland meadow
Traditionally managed meadows can support high numbers of flowering plants and grasses including bent grasses, fescues, crested dog’s-tail, quaking-grass, common catsear, common knapweed, common sorrel, meadow buttercup, pignut and yellow rattle. Some species such as wood crane's-bill are northern specialists that are generally restricted to the Dales and the Pennines.
Enclosed pastures support fewer species than the meadows but if they are not managed too intensively a range of plants adapted to being grazed will thrive. These include autumn hawkbit, devil’s-bit scabious and betony. Where these pastures are damper marsh marigold, marsh willowherb, globeflower and marsh hawk’s-beard may be found.
In some areas such as road verges, where plants are protected from agricultural operations plants that are intolerant of grazing can be found. These include meadow cranesbill, sweet cicely, melancholy thistle, field scabious, restharrow and sand leek.
To find out more about some of these plants in the Yorkshire Dales please follow the links provided.
Limestone grasslands
In the south west of the Yorkshire Dales National Park there are internationally important tracts of limestone grassland (otherwise known as calcareous grasslands). These support some of the National Park’s rarest and most important habitats and species. Here, the blue moor-grass dominated grasslands on the thin limestone soils support a range of lime-loving plants including bird’s-foot trefoil, fairy flax, mouse-ear hawkweed, wild thyme, rock-rose, limestone bedstraw, carline thistle, small scabious, marjoram, autumn gentian, bloody crane's-bill and mountain everlasting.
To find out more about some of these plants in the Yorkshire Dales please follow the links provided.
Acidic grasslands
The acidic grasslands of the upland moorland tend to be dominated by tough grasses and rushes such as heath rush, mat-grass and purple moor-grass and are generally poor in the number of plant species they support. The richer grasslands may still contain a range of typical species such as heath bedstraw, tormentil, sheep’s sorrel, bilberry, devil’s-bit scabious and heath milkwort.
To find out more about some of these plants in the Yorkshire Dales please follow the links provided.
