British NVC community MC12 (''Festuca rubra'' – ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' maritime bluebell community) is one of the maritime cliff

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

in the

British National Vegetation Classification __NOTOC__ The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain. A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related ...

system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime sea-cliff grasslands. This community is found locally in western coastal areas of Britain. There are two subcommunities.

Community composition

Four constant species are found in this community: * Red fescue, ''

Festuca rubra ''Festuca rubra'' is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue, creeping red fescue or the rush-leaf fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to w ...

'' * Bluebell, ''

Hyacinthoides non-scripta ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant found in Atlantic areas from the north-western part of the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles, and also frequently used ...

'' * Common sorrel, ''

Rumex acetosa Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ("dock" being a common name for the genus ''Ru ...

'' * Yorkshire-fog, ''

Holcus lanatus ''Holcus lanatus'' is a perennial flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. The specific epithet ' is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In Nor ...

'' One

rare species A rare species is a group of organisms that are very uncommon, scarce, or infrequently encountered. This designation may be applied to either a plant or animal taxon, and is distinct from the term ''endangered species, endangered'' or ''threatened ...

, spring squill (''

Scilla verna ''Scilla verna'', commonly known as spring squill, is a flowering plant native to Western Europe and Morocco. It belongs to the squill genus ''Scilla''. Its star-like blue flowers are produced in April and May. Description It is a small plant, u ...

''), is associated with this community.

Distribution

This community is found locally in coastal areas in the west of Britain from

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

north to

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

Subcommunities

There are two subcommunities: * the ''Armeria maritima'' subcommunity * the ''Ranunculus ficaria'' subcommunity

References

* John S. Rodwell (2000) '' British Plant Communities Volume 5 - Maritime communities and vegetation of open habitats'' (hardback), (paperback) {{NVC-MC MC12