British NVC community OV16 (''Papaver rhoeas'' - ''Silene noctiflora'' community) is one of the open habitat

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 two arable weed communities of light lime-rich soils. This community is the British equivalent of the Papaveri-Sileneetum noctiflori syntaxon first described by Wasscher (1941) from the Netherlands. It is found in southern and eastern England, 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. There are no subcommunities.

Community composition

The following constant species are found in this community: * 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 ...

'') * Common couch ('' Elymus repens'') * Scentless mayweed (''

Matricaria perforata ''Tripleurospermum inodorum'', common names scentless false mayweed, scentless mayweed, scentless chamomile, wild chamomile, mayweed, false chamomile, and Baldr's brow, is the type species of Tripleurospermum. This plant is native to Eurasia and ...

'') * Common poppy ('' Papaver rhoeas'') * Knotgrass ('' Polygonum aviculare'') * Night-flowering catchfly ('' Silene noctiflora'') * Common chickweed (''

Stellaria media ''Stellaria media'', chickweed, is an annual and perennial flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.Fernald, M. L. 1950. “Gray's Manual of Botany”. Eight Edition. American Book Company, New York, NY. 1632 pp. It is native to Euras ...

'') * Common field-speedwell (''

Veronica persica ''Veronica persica'' is a flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. Common names include birdeye speedwell, common field-speedwell, Persian speedwell, large field speedwell, bird's-eye, or winter speedwell. It is native to Eurasia and is wide ...

'') One rare species is associated with the community: * Night-flowering catchfly ('' Silene noctiflora'')

Distribution

This community is restricted to the warmer south and east of England, from Dorset and Wiltshire in the south to Lincolnshire in the east. The most distinctive species in the community is the nationally scarce ''Silene noctiflora'', which requires lime-rich soils. The community is most often found among cereal crops which have not been heavily fertilised or treated with herbicides.

References

{{NVC-OV OV16