Synonymy

Sphagnetum Rankin 1911b p.p.; Sphagnetum regeneration complex Tansley 1939 p.p.; Scheuchzeria palustris vegetation Sledge 1949; Drosera intermedia-Schoenus nigricans Gesellschaft Braun-Blanquet & Tüxen 1952 p.p.; Sphagnum Hummock Complex, Sphagnum cuspidatum & S. pulchrum phases Rose 1953; Pool & furrow communities Pearsall 1956; Pool communities Ratcliffe & Walker 1958, Boatman & Armstrong 1968, Moore 1977, Boatman et al. 1981; Rhynchospora-Sphagnum vegetation Newbould 1960; Trichophoreto-Eriophoretum pool component McVean & Ratcliffe 1962; Eriophorum angustifolium-Sphagnum cuspidatum Association Birks 1973; Rhynchosporetum albae Koch 1926 sensu Birse 1980 p.p.; Caricetum limosae Dierssen 1982 p.p., Osvald 1923 ememZDierssen 1978 sensu Birse 1984p.p;,Pool communities 2.ii & 2.iii Hulme & Blythe 1984; Peatland noda 13-20 Lindsay et al. 1984; Sphagnum lawn bog hollows NCC New Forest Bogs Report 1984.

Constant species

Eriophorum angustifolium, Menyanthes trifoliata, Sphagnum auriculatum, S. cuspidatum.

Rare species

Hammarbya paludosa, Rhynchospora fusca, Scheuchzeria palustris, Utricularia intermedia, Sphagnum pulchrum.

Physiognomy

The Sphagnum auriculatum bog pool community typically consists of floating masses or soft wet carpets of Sphagna with scattered vascular plants growing on or through them or in areas of open water between. The dominant Sphagna are S. auriculatum (including var. inundatum, sometimes considered within S. subsecundum) and S. cuspidatum’. the constancy and general abundance of the former, together with the rarity here of S. recurvum, provide a good contrast with the closelyrelated Sphagnum cuspidatum!recurvum bog pools.

Locally, throughout the range of the community, the bright orange-yellow S. pulchrum provides a conspicuous enrichment of this element of the vegetation, growing semi-submerged with the other species (as on Brishie bog, the only one of the Silver Flowe mires in Dumfries and Galloway where Ratcliffe & Walker (1958) found it) or as a somewhat firmer mat upon them (as on some of the lowland English valley mires described by Rose (1953) who distinguished a separate S. pulchrum phase).