A SITE of Special Scientific Interest near Rake is home to the unusual Sessile oak, a tree more common in the south-west and North of England.

In Rake Hanger between the London Road and Bull Hill road is a 28.2-hectare (70-acre) wooded escarpment of Lower Greensand on the West Sussex-Hampshire border, where the oak whose acorns are attached directly to its leaves is dominant.

There are also unusual lichens associated with the ancient woodland, and great tussock sedge, bur-reed and great reedmace grow on the banks of two ponds.

And along the waterlogged foot of the scarp, the alder is more common.

A public footpath goes through the site from Sandy Lane.