Synonymy

Erica vagans-Schoenus nigricans ‘Tall Heath’ Coombe & Frost 1956a; Erica vagans heath Gimingham 1972 p.p.; Ulici gallii-Ericetum vagantis Bridgewater 1970 p.p.; Ulicimaritimi-Ericetum vagantis (Géhu 1962) Géhu & Géhu 1973 emend. Bridgewater 1980; Erica vagans-Schoenus nigricans heath Hopkins 1983 p.p.

Constant species

Anagallis tenella, Carex pulicaris, Erica tetralix, E. vagans, Festuca ovina, Molinia caerulea, Potentilla erecta, Schoenus nigricans, Serratula tinctoria, Succisa pratensis, Ulex gallii, Campylium stellatum.

Rare species

Agrostis curtisii, Erica vagans, Scilla verna.

Physiognomy

The Erica vagans-Schoenus nigricans heath is one of the two sub-shrub communities to which the nationally-rare Oceanic West European Erica vagans makes a constant and often prominent contribution, its long spikes of flowers adding a distinctive pale pink to the splash of colour provided by the ericoids in July through to September. Often, however, it is the consistent presence of Schoenus nigricans which marks out stands of this vegetation, its tall greyish semi-evergreen foliage standing a little proud of the rest of the cover (hence Coombe & Frost's (1956a) epithet ‘Tall Heath’). In fact, Schoenus can be found as a rare associate in wetter tracts of various lowland heath types, but here it is an invariable member of the community and one of the most important structural components of the vegetation, occurring, often in abundance and generally in a strongly-tussocky form, with dense caespitose clusters of shoots growing on bulky rootstocks (Sparling 1962a, 1968, Wheeler 1975). Molinia caerulea, too, which is also constant and frequently of high cover, typically occurs as pronounced tussocks and E. vagans, together with the next most common sub-shrub, E. tetralix, often forms compact bushes. Thus, although these four species generally dominate in intimate mixtures, forming a canopy 2-4 dm tall, there is often beneath this a well-defined system of runnels between the individual plants. These are flooded to a depth of a few centimetres for long periods during the winter and, more briefly, throughout the year after heavy rain, and so can provide a microhabitat different in character from the sides and tops of the Schoenus and Molinia tussocks, which are far removed from the influence of the ground waters.