NVC community W3 (''

Salix pentandra ''Salix pentandra'', the bay willow, is a species of willow native to northern Europe and northern Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins . The scientific name refers to the male flowers having five stamens. The Engli ...

Carex rostrata ''Carex rostrata'', the bottle sedge or beaked sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae. Range and habitat The species is native to Holarctic fens and can be found in Canada and the northern part of the United States, and ...

'' woodland) is one of the

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

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 seven woodland communities in the NVC classed as " wet woodlands". This is a locally distributed community. There are no subcommunities. __NOTOC__

Community composition

Thirteen constant species are found in this community: *

Grey willow Grey willow or gray willow may refer to: *''Salix atrocinerea'', a species of willow native to Europe commonly called grey willow *''Salix cinerea'', a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia, also occasionally called grey sallow *''Sal ...

(''Salix cinerea'') * Bay willow (''Salix pentandra'') *

Wild angelica ''Angelica sylvestris'' or wild angelica is a species of flowering plant, native to Europe and central Asia. An annual plant, annual or short-lived perennial plant, perennial growing to a maximum of , it has erect purplish stems and rounded umbe ...

(''Angelica sylvestris'') *

Cuckooflower ''Cardamine pratensis'', the cuckoo flower, lady's smock, mayflower, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is a perennial herb native to Eurasia. Description ''Cardamine pratensis'' is a herbaceous, hairless,Webb, D.A ...

(''Cardamine pratensis'') *

Bottle sedge ''Carex rostrata'', the bottle sedge or beaked sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae. Range and habitat The species is native to Holarctic fens and can be found in Canada and the northern part of the United States, and ...

(''Carex rostrata'') *

Marsh-marigold ''Caltha palustris'', known as marsh-marigold and kingcup, is a small to medium sized perennial herbaceous plant of the buttercup family, native to marshes, fens, ditches and wet woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It flow ...

(''Caltha palustris'') * Meadowsweet (''Filipendula ulmaria'') *

Common marsh-bedstraw ''Galium palustre'', the common marsh bedstraw or simply marsh-bedstraw, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae. This plant is widely distributed, native to virtually every country in Europe, plus Morocco, the Azores, Turkey, Turkme ...

(''Galium palustre'') * Water avens (''Geum rivale'') * Marsh valerian (''Valeriana dioica'') * Pointed spear-moss (''Calligeron cuspidatum'') * Swan's-neck thyme-moss (''Mnium hornum'') * Dotted thyme-moss (''Rhizomnium punctatum'') Six

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 ...

are also associated with the community: * Dark-leaved willow (''Salix myrsinifolia'') * Fibrous tussock-sedge (''Carex appropinquata'') * Lesser tussock-sedge (''Carex diandra'') * Coralroot orchid (''Corallorrhiza trifida'') *

Tufted loosestrife ''Lysimachia thyrsiflora'', the tufted loosestrife, is a plant in the genus ''Lysimachia''. It is native to large sections of the northern Northern Hemisphere, including Eurasia and North America. It often grows in marshes, shorelines of lakes an ...

(''Lysimachia thyrsiflora'') * Round-leaved wintergreen (''Pyrola rotundifolia'')

Distribution

This community is distributed locally in submontane regions of northern England and Scotland. The authors of ''

British Plant Communities ''British Plant Communities'' is a five-volume work, edited by John S. Rodwell and published by Cambridge University Press, which describes the plant communities which comprise the British National Vegetation Classification. Its coverage incl ...

'' noted that although the community had not been recorded in Wales, it is likely to be found there too.

References

* Rodwell, J. S. (1991) '' British Plant Communities Volume 1 - Woodlands and scrub'' (hardback), (paperback) {{NVC-WS W03