Skelmorlie Glen

Also within

Ayrshire and Arran County

Condition (NatureScot)

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Description

Skelmorlie Glen Skelmorlie Glen, lying around 1km south east of the town of Skelmorlie, is one of the best examples of semi-natural woodland in North Ayrshire. It is a botanically-rich mixed deciduous valley woodland, the stream sides and lower slopes of which are dominated by alder, but in the higher areas ash/elm and eventually oak/birch assume dominance. The understorey is predominantly of hazel but bird cherry, rowan and regenerating canopy species are locally abundant. The ground flora is diverse and indicative of undisturbed woodland cover. Higher plants present include woodruff (Galium odoratum), sanicle (Sanicula europaea), dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis) and wood melick (Melica uniflora), as well as less common species such as alternate leaved golden-saxifrage (Chrysosplenium alternifolium), smooth-stalked sedge (Carex laevigata), giant bellflower (Campanula latifolia) and wood stitchwort (Stellaria nemorum).

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Plant communities