Synonymy

Eriophoretum vaginati Smith & Moss 1903, Lewis 1904, Lewis & Moss 1911, Moss 1913, Adamson 1918, Watson 1932, Tansley 1939, all p.p.; Mixed moor Pearsall 1938; Sphagnum community, Type B ‘Moss’ Pearsall 1941; Calluna & Calluna-Eriophorum Moss Pearsall 1941; Betula nana bogs Poore & McVean 1957; Blanket bogs Ratcliffe 1959; Calluneto-Eriophoretum McVean & Ratcliffe 1962, Eddy et al. 1969, Birks 1973, Meek 1976, Evans et al. 1977; Empetreto-Eriophoretum McVean & Ratcliffe 1962; Vaccinio-Ericetum tetralicis Moore 1962, Birse & Robertson 1976, Dierssen 1982; Trichophoreto-Eriophoretum Eddy et al. 1969p.p.; Eriophorum vaginatum bog Edgell 1969p.p.; Erica tetralix-Vaccinium oxycoccos & Juncus squarrosus-Deschampsia flexuosa Series Tallis 1969 p.p.; Rhytidiadelphus lor eus-Sphagnum fuscum Community Birse & Robertson 1976; Vaccinio-Eriophoretum Hill & Evans 1978 p.p.; Mire noda 10 & 11 Daniels 1978; Rhytidiadelpho-Sphagnetum fusci Birse 1980; Erico-Sphagnetum papillosi Moore ( 1964) 1968 emend. Birse 1980p.p.; Calluna-Pleurozium & Calluna-Cladonia noda Bignal & Curtis 1981.

Constant species

Calluna vulgaris, Eriophorum angustifolium, E. vaginatum, Rubus chamaemorus, Pleurozium schreberi, Sphagnum capillifolium.

Rare species

Arctostaphylos alpinus, Betula nana, Vaccinium microcarpum, Kiaeria starkei.

Physiognomy

The Calluna vulgaris-Eriophorum vaginatum mire comprises blanket bog vegetation that is generally dominated by mixtures of Eriophorum vaginatum and ericoid sub-shrubs. Sphagna can be prominent over wetter ground but typically this element is not so rich or luxuriant as in the Scirpus-Eriophorum or Erica-Sphagnum mires. And the true hummock/hollow relief that can commonly be found in those communities is only rarely developed here, though the surface of the ground is often uneven because of the marked tussockiness of E. vaginatum, a structural feature of some importance for the strong contingent of hypnoid mosses, which constitute a further distinctive component over drier surfaces.

E. vaginatum is consistently more important here than in the Scirpus-Eriophorum and Erica-Sphagnum mires: among our Sphagnetalia communities, it shows a peak of abundance in this kind of vegetation and in the Eriophorum mire, which seems often to have been derived from it by impoverishment of the associated flora and with which it was often grouped in early schemes under the heading of Eriophoretum vaginati (e.g. Smith & Moss 1903, Lewis 1904a, b, Lewis & Moss 1911, Moss 1913, Adamson 1918, Watson 1932, Tansley 1939).