British NVC community OV15 (''Anagallis arvensis'' - ''Veronica persica'' community) is one of the
open habitat communities in the
British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of two arable weed communities of light lime-rich soils.
It is a widely distributed community in south-east England, but is found only locally, its distribution being restricted to areas of suitable soils.
There are four
subcommunities.
Community composition
The following
constant species are found in this community:
* Scarlet pimpernel (''
Anagallis arvensis'')
* Black-bindweed (''
Fallopia convolvulus
''Fallopia convolvulus'', the black-bindweed or wild buckwheat, is a fast-growing annual flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa.Flora of NW Europe''Fallopia convolvulus''/ref>Flora of China ...
'')
* Knotgrass (''
Polygonum aviculare
''Polygonum aviculare'' or common knotgrass is a plant related to buckwheat and dock. It is also called prostrate knotweed, birdweed, pigweed and lowgrass. It is an annual found in fields and wasteland, with white flowers from June to October. I ...
'')
* Common field-speedwell (''
Veronica persica'')
Two
rare species are associated with the community:
* Ground-pine (''
Ajuga chamaepitys'')
* Shepherd's-needle (''
Scandix pecten-veneris'')
A distinctive feature of most occurrences of this community is the presence, in mid- to late-summer, of ''
Kickxia
''Kickxia'' is a genus of plants in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae). It includes several species known commonly as cancerworts or fluellins. Species are mostly native to Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, with two, ''K. elatine'' and ''K ...
'', represented by one or both of ''
K. spuria'' and ''
K. elatine'', and ''
Euphorbia exigua''.
Distribution
This community occurs widely across south-east England, but, being dependent on lime-rich soils, it occurs only locally, typically as a weed community of cereal crops.
It is essentially the same as the Kickxietum spuriae assemblage described by Kruseman and Vlieger.
Subcommunities
There are three
subcommunities:
* the ''Stellaria media - Convolvulus arvensis'' subcommunity
* the ''Legousia hybrida - Chaenorhinum minus'' subcommunity
* the ''Agrostis stolonifera - Phascum cuspidatum'' subcommunity
References
{{NVC-OV
OV15