The Bottoms is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 in County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It lies just south of the A181 road, roughly midway between the villages of Cassop

Cassop

Cassop is a village in County Durham, in England. It has a population of about 500 and is located near the city of Durham...

 and Wheatley Hill

Wheatley Hill

Wheatley Hill is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the west of Peterlee, near Thornley and Wingate.-External links:* *...

, some 10 km south-east of Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

 city.

The site's interest lies in an area of unimproved magnesian limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 grassland, in which blue moor-grass, Sesleria albicans, and small scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, are the dominant species. This is a scarce vegetation type, which is found only in County Durham and the extent of which has been severely reduced by quarrying and intensive agriculture.

Other grasses that are frequent in the sward

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

 include meadow oat-grass, Avenula pratensis, quaking grass, Briza media

Briza media

Briza media is a perennial grass in the family Poaceae and is a species of the genus Briza.Common name includes Quaking-grass, Cow-quake, Didder, Dithering-grass, Dodder-grass, Doddering Dillies, Doddle-grass, Earthquakes, Jiggle-joggles, Jockey-grass, Lady's-hair, Maidenhair-grass, Pearl Grass,...

, sheep's fescue, Festuca ovina, and crested hairgrass, Koeleria macrantha

Koeleria macrantha

Koeleria macrantha is a species of grass known by the common name prairie Junegrass. In the UK it is known as Crested hair-grass. It is native to much of North America, from Alaska to California, from northern Mexico to the Eastern United States...

. There is a rich variety of herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

s, including rock-rose, Helianthemum nummularium

Helianthemum nummularium

Helianthemum nummularium is a species of rockrose , native to most of Europe.-Description:It is an evergreen trailing plant with loose terminal clusters of bright yellow, saucer-shaped flowers...

, glaucous sedge, Carex flacca

Carex flacca

Carex flacca, with common names blue sedge, gray carex, glaucous sedge, or carnation-grass, , is a species of sedge native to parts of Europe and North Africa....

, spring sedge, C. caryophyllea, and mouse-ear hawkweed, Pilosella officinarum, and a small population of purple milk-vetch, Astragalus danicus, a local rarity on magnesian limestone.