NVC community H2 (''Calluna vulgaris - Ulex minor'' heath) is one of the

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

in the

British National Vegetation Classification __NOTOC__ The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain. A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related pr ...

system. It is one of five communities categorised as lowland dry heaths. It has a localised distribution in southern England. There are three subcommunities.

Community composition

The following constant species are found in this community: * Heather (''Calluna vulgaris'') *

Wavy Hair-grass ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', commonly known as wavy hair-grass, is a species of bunchgrass in the grass family widely distributed in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and North America. Description Wavy hair-grass, ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', has wir ...

(''Deschampsia flexuosa'') *

Bell Heather ''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe. The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar produc ...

(''Erica cinerea'') *

Dwarf Gorse ''Ulex minor'', the dwarf furze or dwarf gorse is an evergreen dwarf shrub in the family Fabaceae, native to eastern England, France, Spain and Portugal. It is restricted to lowland heathland habitats. It normally grows about tall, although i ...

(''Ulex minor'') Two rare species,

Bristle Bent ''Agrostis curtisii'', the bristle bent, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae native to Eurasia. It is densely tufted, with hair like leaves and stems that grow up to 60 cm. Its spikelets are yellow-green in colour, and its lemmas ...

(''Agrostis curtisii'') and

Hairy Greenweed ''Genista pilosa'', commonly known as hairy greenweed, silkyleaf broom, silkyleaf woadwaxen and creeping broom, is a plant species in the genus ''Genista''. It is tall and has green coloured stems. It has yellowish coloured flowers which grow in ...

(''Genista pilosa''), are associated with the community.

Distribution

This community is confined to southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, from

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, with the greatest concentrations occurring in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

Subcommunities

There are three subcommunities: * the so-called typical subcommunity * the ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' subcommunity * the ''Molinia caerulea'' subcommunity

References

* Rodwell, J. S. (1991) '' British Plant Communities Volume 2 - Mires and heaths'' (hardback), (paperback) {{NVC-H H02