Lemnalary ASSI is a small area of agricultural grassland. It is important because it contains a good population of great Burnet, representing the most significant locality for this species in Northern Ireland.
This species which is one of Northern Ireland's rarest flowering plants is confined to County Antrim, where historically it existed along the Antrim coast. Lemnalary is the most significant remaining population of this species and is located approximately 1.5 km North of Carnlough.
Great burnet is a tall elegant plant, two feet high or more, with sharply serrated leaves and oblong heads of deep purple-brown flowers. It is a meadow or pasture species which has declined rapidly because of the destruction of the traditional meadow as a habitat. At Lemnalary, great Burnet occurs in a fairly productive agricultural sward that is dominated by perennial rye-grass with Yorkshire-fog and couch grass. Associated herbs include white clover and broad-leaved dock.
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