Synonymy

Heather Moor Smith & Moss 1903, Smith & Rankin 1903 p.p.; Callunetum Lewis & Moss 1911, Elgee 1914, Tansley 1939, Fidler et al. 1970 p.p. Calluno-Ericetum einereae Bridgewater 1970 p.p.; Cladonio crispatae-Callunetum Coppins & Shimwell 1971 p.p.; Pohlio-Callunetum Shimwell 1975 p.p.

Constant species

Calluna vulgaris, Deschampsia flexuosa, Pohlia nutans.

Physiognomy

In the Calluna vulgaris-Deschampsia flexuosa heath, Calluna vulgaris is almost always the most abundant plant, though it often forms a fairly low, and sometimes quite open, canopy made up of immature individuals: burning is very common on the heathlands where this community occurs, many stands are of a more or less uniform age and relatively few are old enough to have mature or degenerate heather plants. Quite often, too, the cover shows signs of grazing with the heather nibbled close and both these factors have some influence on the contribution of other sub-shrubs. Typically, none of these associates is consistently frequent throughout, though certain species can become quite common and attain a measure of local abundance, if only exceptionally rivalling Calluna in their cover. Vaccinium myrtillus is the most important of these and, particularly where the community extends to higher altitudes, where the climate is cooler and more humid, its frequency and abundance presage a shift to the Vaccinium myrtillus-Deschampsia flexuosa heath. Much more locally, V. vitis-idaea and/or the hybrid V. x intermedium (Ritchie 1955Z?) can be found here, and Empetrum nigrum ssp. nigrum has sometimes spread in this kind of vegetation, as on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire (Fidler et al. 1970, Dalby et al. 1971). Erica cinerea and Ulex gallii, by contrast, are very scarce, although stands of the Calluna-Ulex gallii heath, of which both of these species are characteristic, do occur within the range of the Calluna-Deschampsia heath and can be difficult to separate from it. Erica tetralix is likewise rare, although it can figure locally in transitions to the Ericetum tetralicis, a fairly common feature in the mosaics of dry and wet heaths seen in the North York Moors (e.g. Elgee 1914).

Apart from Calluna, the only other vascular constant of the community is Deschampsia flexuosa but, even where the cover of the heather is fairly open, this is often represented by fairly sparse tufts and, under very dense canopies, it can be virtually extinguished.