British NVC community MC4 (''Brassica oleracea'' maritime cliff-ledge community) 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 cliff crevice and ledge communities. This community is found locally on the south coast of England. There are two subcommunities.

Community composition

Four 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'') * Wild Cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') *

Cock's-foot ''Dactylis'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the bluegrass subfamily within the grass family. ''Dactylis'' is native to North Africa, they are found throughout the world, and are an invasive species. They are known in English ...

(''Dactylis glomerata'') *

Sea Carrot The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

(''Daucus carota'' ssp. ''gummifer'') Three rare species are associated with this community, Wild Cabbage itself,

Early Spider-orchid ''Ophrys sphegodes'', commonly known as the early spider-orchid, is a species of sexually-deceptive orchid native to Europe and the Middle East. It is a very varied species with many subspecies recognised. Description Plant height varies with l ...

(''Ophrys sphegodes'') and

Nottingham Catchfly ''Silene nutans'' is a flowering plant in the genus ''Silene'', most commonly known as Nottingham catchfly. Description ''Silene nutans'' is a diploid, mainly outcrossing, herbaceous, perennial plant. It grows up to tall, from a branching, wood ...

(''Silene nutans'').

Distribution

This community is found on the south coast of Britain, in west

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Subcommunities

There are two subcommunities: * the ''Beta vulgaris'' ssp. ''maritima'' subcommunity * the Rayed ''Ononis repens'' 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 MC04