Synonymy

Natural pasture Moss 1907, 1913; Festucetum ovinae Moss 1911 p.p; Festucetum ovinae calcareum Tansley & Rankin 1911 p.p.; Chalk grassland auct. angl. p.p.; Limestone grassland auct. angl. p.p.; Xerobrometum britannicum Braun-Blanquet & Moor 1938; Festucetum Balme 1954, Cornish 1954; Festuco-Agrostidetum Balme 1954 p.p.; Thymo-Festucetum Williams & Varley 1967p.p.; Festuca ovina-Helictotrichonpratense community Lloyd 1968; Cirsio-Brometum Shimwell 1968a p.p.; Helictotricho-Caricetum flaccae Shimwell 1968a; Helianthemo-Koelerietum cristatae Shimwell 1968a p.p.; Caricetum montanae Shimwell 1968a; p.p.; Species-rich Festuca ovina grassland Lloyd 1972; Species-rich Carboniferous Limestone grassland Lloyd 1972; Agrosto-Campanuletum rotundifoliae van der Meulen & Wiegers 1972p.p.; Festuca ovina/rubra grassland Wells 1975; Carex humilis grassland Wells 1975, Smith 1980; Festuca ovina/Poterium sanguisorba/ Lotus corniculatus grassland Wells et al. 1976; Cirsio-Brometum Shimwell emend. Willems 1978; Fineleaved fescue grassland Smith 1980; Mixed Gramineae grassland Smith 1980.

Constant species

Avenula pratensis, Briza media, Carex flacca, Festuca ovina, Hieracium pilosella, Koeleria macrantha, Leontodon hispidus, Linum catharticum, Lotus corniculatus, Plantago lanceolata, Sanguisorba minor, Scabiosa columbaria, Thymus praecox.

Rare species

Aceras anthropophorum, Ajuga chamaepitys, Astragalus danicus, Bunium bulbocastanum, Carex ericetorum, C. humilis, C. montana, Cerastium pumilum, Cirsium tuberosum, Euphrasia pseudokerneri, Galium pumilum, G. sterneri, Gentianella anglica, G. germanica, Herminium monorchis, Hypochoeris maculata, Iberis amara, Linum perenne ssp. anglicum, Ophrys fuciflora, O. sphegodes, Orchis simia, O. ustulata, Orobanche picridis, Phyteuma tenerum, Polygala amara, P. calcarea, Pulsatilla vulgaris, Salvia pratensis, Senecio integrifolius ssp. integrifolius, Seseli libanotis, Silene nutans, Spiranthes spiralis, Teucrium botrys, Thesium humifusum, Thymus pulegioides, Veronica spicata.

Physiognomy

The Festuca ovina-Avenulapratensis grassland typically comprises rich and intimate mixtures of grasses and herbaceous dicotyledons in a continuous, closed sward. Though many of its species, even some of the numerous low-frequency associates, can be locally prominent, there is generally no consistent pattern of dominance in the vegetation, even at the sub-community level. This is especially so under the close sheepor rabbit-grazing characteristic of many stands of the community. Under such conditions, the vegetation occurs as even expanses of very short, tight and springy turf, its individual plants often extremely diminutive and its richness and variety on a strikingly small scale. Such features, together with the attractive appearance of many of the plants when in bloom and the occurrence of a large number of national rarities, give the community an aesthetic appeal which has been long extolled (e.g. Defoe 1724, White 1788, Cobbett 1830, Hudson 1900, 1910).