British NVC community MC10 (''Festuca rubra'' - ''Plantago'' spp. maritime grassland) is one of the maritime cliff

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 maritime sea-cliff grasslands. This community is found widely in coastal areas. There are three subcommunities.

Community composition

Five constant species are found in this community: *

Red Fescue ''Festuca rubra'' is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue or creeping red fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to well-drained soils in c ...

(''Festuca rubra'') * Buck's-horn Plantain (''Plantago coronopus'') *

Ribwort Plantain ''Plantago lanceolata'' is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is known by the common names ribwort plantain, narrowleaf plantain, English plantain, ribleaf, lamb's tongue, and buckhorn. It is a common weed on c ...

(''Plantago lanceolata'') *

Sea Plantain ''Plantago maritima'', the sea plantain, seaside plantain or goose tongue, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution in temperate and Arctic regions, native to most of Europe, n ...

(''Plantago maritima'') * Creeping Bent (''Agrostis stolonifera'') Five rare species are associated with this community: * Purple Milk-vetch (''Astragalus danicus'') *

Purple Oxytropis Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...

(''Oxytropus halleri'') *

Scottish Primrose ''Primula scotica'', commonly known as Scottish primrose, is a species of flowering plant in the family, Primulaceae, the primroses and their relatives. It was discovered by James Smith, and is endemic to the north coast of Scotland. Descripti ...

(''Primula scotica'') *

Spring Squill ''Scilla verna'', commonly known as spring squill, is a flowering plant native to Western Europe. It belongs to the squill genus ''Scilla''. Its star-like blue flowers are produced during the spring. It is a small plant, usually reaching 5-15 ce ...

(''Scilla verna'') * Western Clover (''Trifolium occidentale'')

Distribution

This community is found in coastal areas on the west coast of Britain from

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

north to

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

, with outlying examples in southeast

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

Subcommunities

There are three subcommunities: * the ''Armeria maritima'' subcommunity * the ''Carex panicea'' subcommunity * the ''Schoenus nigricans'' subcommunity

References

Rodwell, J. S. John S. Rodwell (1946 – present) is an ecologist who was based at the University of Lancaster, noted for his role in the development of the British National Vegetation Classification and as editor of the five volumes of ''British Plant Commu ...

(2000) '' British Plant Communities Volume 5 - Maritime communities and vegetation of open habitats'' (hardback), (paperback) {{NVC-MC MC10