Synonymy

Eriophoretum vaginati Rankin 1911a; Sphagnetum Regeneration Complex Tansley 1939, Godwin & Conway 1939 p.p.; Marginal Sphagnetum Godwin & Conway 1939; Sphagnum community, Type A ‘moss’ Pearsall 1941; Dissected moss Pearsall 1941; Pleurozia purpurea-Erica tetralix Assoziation, Subassoziation von Andromeda polifolia Braun-Blanquet & Tüxen 1952; Flat & hummock communities Ratcliffe & Walker 1958; Erico-Sphagnetum magellanici, Sub-Atlantic race Moore 1968 p.p.; Trichophoreto-Eriophoretum, Typical facies Eddy et al. 1969; Sphagnum papillosum-Erica tetralix & Calluna vulgaris-Eriophorum vaginatum noda, Normal Series Tallis 1973; Erico-Sphagnetum papillosi Moore (1964) 1968 emend. Birse 1980 p.p.; Calluna-Eriophorum Sphagnetum community Bignal & Curtis 1981; Trichophorum cespitosum-Eriophorum vaginatum community Bignal & Curtis 1981; Erica-Sphagnum magellanicum nodum Ratcliffe & Hattey 1982 p.p.; Erico-Sphagnetum magellanici Dierssen 1982.

Constant species

Calluna vulgaris, Erica tetralix, Eriophorum angustifolium, E. vaginatum, Sphagnum capillifolium, S. papillosum, S. tenellum, Odontoschisma sphagni.

Rare species

Andromeda polifolia, Sphagnum imbricatum.

Physiognomy

The Erica tetralix-Sphagnum papillosum mire is a raised and blanket bog community generally dominated by Sphagna, with ericoid sub-shrubs and monocotyledons often playing a subordinate role, though becoming more important on drier ground and, some of them at least, increasing in prominence with particular kinds of treatment. The vegetation can be found as extensive, undulating carpets comprising irregular mosaics of the different structural elements or, on mires with stronglydifferentiated surface microrelief, it can comprise the lawn and hummock components, with the plants more clearly zoned in relation to the height of the water-table and with Rhynchosporion assemblages occupying the wettest hollows.

The bulkier vascular plants typically form a low and patchy canopy, 2 dm or so tall, with Calluna vulgaris, Erica tetralix and Eriophorum vaginatum being the commonest species, Scirpus cespitosus a little less frequent. Often, none of these is truly dominant, small bushes or tussocks occurring scattered through the Sphagnum carpet, but, over lawns and hummocks, they can show a stronger pattern of local prominence, E. tetralix tending to predominate on wetter ground, where shoots of Eriophorum angustifolium can also be abundant, Calluna, Scirpus and E. vaginatum being concentrated on the drier areas. In such situations, the last two can grow more tussocky, though Calluna usually has the higher covers and E. vaginatum never really attains the important role it has in the Calluna-Eriophorum mire.