SM17: Artemisia maritima salt-marsh community: Artemisietum maritimae Hocquette 1927

Summary

Synonymy

Festucetum littoralis artemisietosum Ghestem 1972; includes Halimionetum portulacoidis, terminal phase with Artemisia maritima Beeftink 1962.

Constant species

Artemisia maritima, Festuca rubra, Halimione portulacoides, Plantago maritima.

Rare species

Limonium binervosum, L. humile, Suaeda vera.

Physiognomy

This is a species-poor community of somewhat variable physiognomy. Stands are generally small and fragmentary but they range from rank grassy patches dominated by Festuca rubra with prominent Artemisia maritima to open bushy vegetation with A. maritima over low Halimione portulacoides. There is usually a little Plantago maritima; Limonium cf. vulgare and Puccinellia maritima are also frequent.

Habitat

The Artemisietum maritimae is an upper-marsh community occurring on a variety of substrates, though often in association with tidal litter and inwashed shell fragments. Its most usual habitat is on creek levees where it forms small patches on the usually heavy clay soils which frequently show organic enrichment in the upper part of the profile. It is also found on ridges and mounds on the upper marsh and sometimes forms a fringe along the foot of sea walls or around stands of Atriplici-Elymetum pycnanthi. Where such zones occur at the marsh/dune interface the substrate is often a coarse sand.

Most occurrences are on ungrazed marshes but this may be a reflection of the predominantly south-eastern distribution of the association.