Synonymy

Esthwaite reedswamp Pearsall 1918 p.p.; Typhetum latifoliae and Typha latifolia consocies Tansley 1939; Typhetum angustifolio-latifoliae (Eggler 1933) Schmale 1939 p.p.; Scirpeto-Phragmitetum medioeuropaeum (Koch 1926) R.Tx. 1941 p.p.; Glycerio-Typhetum latifoliae Neuhäusl 1959 p.p.; Scirpetum lacustris Chouard 1924se«sw Passarge 1964 p.p.; Typha lat ifolia-Lemna minor sociation Spence 1964.

Constant species

Typha latifolia.

Rare species

Cicuta virosa.

Physiognomy

Typha latifolia is always dominant in the Typhetum latifoliae forming an open or closed cover of stout shoots usually 1-2 m tall. No other species is frequent throughout and pure stands are common.

Sub-communities

Typha latifolia sub-community: includes Typha latifolia-Lemna minor sociation Spence 1964 and Typha latifolia nodum Adam 1981. Here are included pure or very species-poor stands overwhelmingly dominated by a usually very tall and dense cover of T. latifolia. Associates are generally of low cover but particularly distinctive stands may be encountered with abundant floating Lemna minor or sprawling Solanum dulcamara, a low carpet of Agrostis stolonifera or scattered Aster tripolium.

Mentha aquqtica sub-community. The cover of T. latifolia is usually shorter and less dense in this subcommunity and beneath there is an understorey of Mentha aquatica, Galium palustre and Juncus effusus. Emergent Equisetum fluviatile and floating L. minoroccur occasionally and there is sometimes a little Epilobium hirsutum. Rare records for a wide variety of watermargin species make this the richest of the sub-communities.

Alisma plantago-aquatica sub-community: Typha latifolia stands Meres Survey 1980. Here, shorter and less dense T. latifolia is usually intermixed with some Sparganium erectum and/or Eleocharis palustris and, beneath, scattered plants of Alisma plantago-aquatica with occasional Ranunculus sceleratus and sprawls of Glyceriafluitans. L. minor is sometimes abundant on the water surface or over damp bare patches of substrate.

Carex rostrata sub-community. This sub-community comprises species-poor vegetation dominated by mixtures of T. latifolia and Carex rostrata. Many of the associates of the Mentha and Alisma sub-communities are absent but there is very occasional Menyanthes trifoliata and Potentilla palustris.

Habitat

The Typhetum latifoliae is most characteristic of standing or slow-moving, mesotrophic to eutrophic, circumneutral to basic waters with silty substrates. It is frequent around lowland lakes, ponds and reservoirs, along canals and dykes and in sluggish streams and also occurs very rarely on salt-marshes.