Synonymy

Carex elata consocies Pearsall 1918; Open carr Pearsall 1918 p.p.; Carex elata associations Holdgate 1955b p.p.; Carex elata headwater fen community Haslam 1965; Association of Carex elata Pigott & Wilson 1978.

Constant species

Carex elata.

Rare species

Calamagrostis stricta.

Physiognomy

The Caricetum elatae comprises vegetation dominated by Carex elata, usually as prominent tussocks. These are up to 40 cm in diameter and height, occasionally taller in deeper water, are often closely up set with to 60 tussocks per 10 x 10 m (Wheeler 1975) and have a canopy of spreading leaves about 1 m long. The community is generally species-poor. Most frequently, there are taller herbaceous dicotyledons scattered around the tussocks and often rooted in the peaty stocks at or around waterlevel; among these, Cirsium palustre, Eupatorium cannabinum, Lycopus europaeus and Ranunculus lingua are the most frequent. Galium palustre and Solanum dulcamara sometimes form thick tangles of sprawling shoots. In areas of shallow water between the tussocks, scattered plants of Menyanthes trifoliata, Mentha aquatica, Potentilla palustris and Berula erecta may occur and, in deeper pools, there may be elements of floating-leaved or submerged aquatic vegetation. In deeper water, too, Cladium mariscus may be locally prominent, its clumps forming mosaics with the C. elata (Haslam 1965, Wheeler 1975). Occasionally, scattered shoots of Phragmites australis form a sparse cover.

The C. elata tussocks themselves, especially those which are less vigorous, form a distinctive support for epiphytic Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Epilobium palustre, Cardamine pratensis and (e.g. Holdgate 1955b) Filipendula ulmaria. Here, too, there may also be sparse wefts of Calliergon cuspidatum but, in general, bryophytes are rare.

Saplings of Salix cinerea or, in the north, 5. atrocinerea, are a frequent feature of the community. These seem to gain a hold mostly between the tussocks, on more open areas of bare organic matter (Haslam 1965, Pigott & Wilson 1978). Alnus glutinosa is a less frequent invader but it may be able to colonise the tussock tops.

Habitat

The community usually occurs as emergent vegetation in up to 40 cm of water in shallow pools and old peat cuttings, more fragmentarily in derelict ditches (Wheeler 1975) and sometimes as part of open-water transitions around larger water bodies (Pearsall 1918, Holdgate 1955b, Pigott & Wilson 1978).