Synonymy

Allium schoenoprasum-Plantago maritima community Hopkins 1983

Constant species

Allium schoenoprasum, Festuca ovina, Plantago maritima, Scilla verna.

Rare species

Allium schoenoprasum, Isoetes hystrix, Juncus capitatus, Scilla autumnalis, S. verna.

Physiognomy

The Allium schoenoprasum-Plantago maritima community comprises usually sparsely scattered individuals of perennial and ephemeral plants occuring as diverse mixtures in very small stands, often less than 1 m2 in extent, and with a marked annual pattern of growth. Most of the species are perennial, though few of these are constant or of consistently high cover. However, after the damper weather of winter and with the flushing that is a characteristic feature of the habitat of this vegetation, the scattered usually dimutive tussocks of Festuca ovina and Armeria maritima and the rosettes of Plantago maritima show a flush of green growth in spring and are joined by the emerging shoots of Scilla verna and Allium schoenoprasum. Twisting leaves of the latter are especially distinctive in the sward and the species is often the most abundant plant with cover values exceeding 25%. It also flowers prolifically here, with a profusion of pretty pink dwarf inflorescences, unlike many of the other species which remain vegetative.

Among the associates, dwarfed plants of Calluna vuhgaris are frequent and occasionally there can be some Scilla autumnalis, Thymus praecox, Galium verum, Centaurium erythraea, Polygala vulgaris, Carex flacca, Minuartia verna, Agrostis stolonifera, A. canina ssp. montana and Koeleria macrantha.