U4 - Festuca Ovina-Agrostis Capillaris-Galium Saxatile Grassland

Summary

Synonymy

Siliceous grassland Smith 1900a,b, 1905, Crampton 1911, Tansley 1911, all p.p.; Festuca-Agrostis grassland Tansley 1939, Ratcliffe 1959tz, King 1962, Pearsall 1968; Festuceto-Agrostidetum Balme 1953; Viola lutea grassheath Balme 1954 p.p.; Festuca-Nardus grassland Ratcliffe 1959a; Species-poor Agrosto-Festucetum McVean & Ratcliffe 1962, Birks 1973, Meek 1976, Evans et al. 1977, Ferreira 1978; Agrostis-Festuca sociation Edgell 1969; Agrostis-Festuca-Nardus sociation Edgell 1969; Festucetum Eddy et al. 1969; Achilleo-Festucetum tenuifoliae Birse & Robertson 1976; Galium saxatile-Poa pratensis community Birse & Robertson 1976; Agrosto-Festucetum Hill & Evans 1978 p.p.; Trifolio-Agrosto-Festucetum Hill & Evans 1978; Anthoxantho-Festucetum rubrae Page 1980; Junco squarrosi-Festucetum tenuifoliae Birse & Robertson 1976 emend. Birse 1980 p.p.; Festuca ovina-Anthoxanthum odoratum-Trifolium repens-Agrostis tenuis & Festuca ovina-Nardus stricta noda Hughes & Huntley 1986.

Constant species

Agrostis capillaris, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Festuca ovina, Galium saxatile, Potentilla erecta.

Physiognomy

The Festuca ovina-Agrostis capillaris-Galium saxatile grassland is characteristically dominated by grass mixtures in which Festuca ovina, Agrostis capillaris and Anthoxanthum odoratum are the most consistent and generally the most abundant components. F. tenuifolia has sometimes been specifically distinguished from F. ovina sensu stricto in the data (Birse & Robertson 1976, Birse 1980, Graham 1988), but as yet there is no accurate indication of the relative importance of the two taxa in the community. F. vivipara has also been recorded in some higher-altitude stands but is otherwise rare. F. rubra is not so common throughout as F. ovina but, in certain situations, it can exceed it in frequency and cover. Agrostis canina occurs occasionally, with ssp. canina being particularly well represented on damper ground.

Typically, these grasses occur intimately mixed in swards that are short, sometimes a little rough and tussocky, but often close-cropped into a tight, finetextured turf. No other grasses have the same general importance in the community as a whole, though a number are found as occasional throughout, notably Danthonia decumbens, and some others can attain local prominence, in certain cases giving a distinctly coarser look to the herbage. Nardus stricta, for example, is usually a low-frequency associate here, though it can get a firmer hold and become very obvious in autumn when its tussocks stand out straw-yellow against the midgreen background; but, even then, the plants are typically scattered and Nardus never shows the uncompromising dominance in this community that is so characteristic of much Nardus-Galium grassland.