Synonymy

Sphagneto-Juncetum effusi, Carex rostrata facies Eddy et al. 1969; Carex lasiocarpa-Menyanthes trifoliata Association Birks 1973 p.p.; Carex rostrata-Carex limosa nodum Birks 1973 p.p.; Sphagno-Caricetum curtae Passarge 1964 sensu Birse 1980; Caricetum chordorrhizae Paul & Lutz 1941 sensu Birse 1980; Caricetum rostratae Dierssen 1982 p.p.; Caricetum limosae Dierssen 1982 p.p.; Caricetum lasiocarpae Dierssen 1982 p.p.

Constant species

Carex rostrata, Poly trichum commune, Sphagnum cuspidatum, S. recurvum.

Rare species

Carex chordorrhiza, Lysimachia thyrsiflora.

Physiognomy

The Carex rostrata-Sphagnum recurvum mire typically has a cover of sedges over a carpet of semi-aquatic Sphagna, with generally a very small contribution from vascular associates. Carex rostrata is the commonest sedge throughout, forming a usually rather open cover of shoots a few decimetres tall, but it can be accompanied by C. curta, C. lasiocarpa, C. limosa or C. nigra and the first two especially can be locally prominent, as in some stands in Birks’ (1973) Carex lasiocarpa-Menyanthes Association and the Sphagno-Caricetum curtae (Passarge 1964) of Birse (1980). The kind of vegetation in which the very rare C. chordorrhiza occurs in Sutherland is also probably best considered as part of this community (Birse 1980, who placed it in a distinct Caricetum chordorrhizae Paul & Lutz 1941). Occasionally, this taller element is enriched by Eriophorum angustifolium, though this is typically less frequent here than in the Rhynchosporion bog pools, or by Juncus effusus or J. acutiflorus, though these do not show the regular pattern of dominance that they can exhibit in the Carex echinata-Sphagnum mire.

Beneath this cover, there is a generally extensive soft wet carpet of Sphagna, among which Sphagnum recurvum and S. cuspidatum are the most frequent and usually the most abundant. S. auriculatum (including var. inundatum) occurs quite commonly, too, and there is the suggestion among the available samples that it shows the same increase towards more oceanic regions that can be seen in the Rhynchosporion (e.g. Birks 1973, Birse 1980). S. palustre is occasional and there are sparse records for S. subnitens and S. papillosum, but more base-tolerant S. squarrosum and S. teres are characteristically rare, a good contrast with the Carex rostrata-Sphagnum squarrosum mire. Other bryophytes are few, but Poly trichum commune is very frequent and it can be abundant in the carpet as scattered patches. Aulacomnium palustre and Calliergon stramineum occur very sparsely, a further distinction between this community and the Carex-Sphagnum squarrosum and Carex-Sphagnum warnstorfii mires.