Ashtead Common's diverse habitats
support a wide variety of plant and animal species, including
several hundred species of fungi, lichen and mosses. Some 50
different species of trees and shrubs and more than 300 other
species of plants can also be found here, including the
greater yellow rattle, bluebell, wood anemone and the southern
marsh orchid.
The Common is a mosaic of woodland, grassland, scrub and various
wetland habitats - ponds, streams, ditches, springs and a well (see
map, below).
The large area of oak pollards (relic woodland pasture) provides
an important habitat for specialised plants such as lichens, mosses
and liverworts, as well as attracting bats, woodpeckers, owls and
nuthatches, together with butterflies such as the purple
emperor and purple hairstreak.
The woodland in spring is scattered with bluebells, anemones and
wood sorrel. Wood spurge, butcher's broom and giant fescue are also
found here. The lower slopes of the Common towards the Rye and
Woodfield were periodically used for crops until 1956. Nowadays,
they are now dominated by shrubs 
and bushes, such as willow, sallow,
blackthorn, hawthorn and oak. Often described as scrub /
grassland, this area provides an intermediate stage
between grassland and woodland. It provides cover and
nesting sites for birds such as whitethroat, willow warbler,
blackcap, chiffchaff and linnet, as well as many more common
species including bullfinch, robin and dunnock.
The Common is renowned for its invertebrates. Over 1,000 species
of beetle have been recorded, of which more than 150 are
internationally rare species. The list of butterflies and moths is
equally impressive. Ashtead is home to a variety of amphibians and
reptiles, as well as mammals such as bats, voles, foxes and roe
deer.