Synonymy

The Puccinellietum maritimae includes a considerable range of closely-related vegetation types. The limits of the association as a whole are similar to those adopted in recent Continental accounts (e.g. Beeftink 1965, Westhoff & den Held 1969) and, as such, would include all or part of a variety of salt-marsh types in earlier British descriptions. The synonmy of the communities is complex and, as many synonyms would be partial, a complete list is not attempted here. Where a particular sub-community has a clear counterpart in litt. a note is given below.

Constant species

Puccinellia maritima.

Rare species

The association does not provide the sole, or even major, context for any national rarity but the following occur occasionally: Arthrocnemum perenne, Limonium bellidifolium, L. binervosum, Salicornia pusilla, Spartina maritima and Suaeda vera.

Physiognomy

Mostly, the association occurs as a closed species-poor grassland but the complete range includes very open pioneer vegetation and herb-dominated stands in which Puccinellia maritima is of minor importance or even absent. The sward varies from a tight low turf 1–2 cm high to a rank mattress up to 50 cm tall. Although grazing is important in controlling the physiognomy (see below), a considerable range of genetically determined morphotypes of P. maritima is present in Britain (Gray & Scott 1977a; 1980).