SD14: Salix repens-Campylium stellatum dune-slack community

Summary

Synonymy

Sandscale Salix repens dunes Pear sall 1934; Campylium stellatum-Salix repens nodum Jones 1992; Carex flacca-Thalloid Liverwort nodum Jones 1992 p.p.

Constant species

Agrostis stolonifera, Carex flacca, Epipactis palustris, Equisetum variegatum, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Mentha aquatica, Salix repens, Calliergon cuspidatum, Campylium stellatum.

Rare species

Dactylorhiza majalis ssp. praetermissa and ssp. purpurella, Juncus acutus, Liparis loeselii, Pyrola rotundifolia.

Physiognomy

The Salix repens-Campylium stellatum community comprises generally closed vegetation of dune slacks with an often extensive low bushy carpet of S. repens, frequently species-rich assemblages of vascular associates and a usually extensive carpet of bryophytes among which both Campylium stellatum and Calliergon cuspidatum figure very commonly, the former generally especially abundant.

The constant combination of Carex flacca, Equisetum variegatum and, in most sub-communities, Epipactis palustris with more widely occurring dune-slack plants such as Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Agrostis stolonifera and Mentha aquatica, is what gives this vegetation its particular character. Among these species, E. variegatum can be especially abundant and it sometimes assumes a striking tussock growth-form, perhaps because of rapid shoot proliferation in the early stages of colonisation (Jones 1992). Also, as with the Salix-Calliergon community, the only occasional occurrence of Potentilla anserina and Carex nigra here, and the generally low cover of the latter, is an important contrast with the Potentilla-Carex slack vegetation.

Among the other commoner associates, Carex arenaria, Leontodon autumnalis, Ranunculus flammula, Rubus caesius, Lotus corniculatus and Juncus articulatus are the most frequent with more occasional Taraxacum officinale agg. and Equisetum palustre.