British NVC community MG1

British NVC community MG1 (Arrhenatherum elatius grassland) is one of the mesotrophic grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.

It is a very widespread community throughout the British lowlands. There are five subcommunities.

This type of plant community was described in 1919 as Arrhenatheretum elatioris Br.-Bl..

Community composition

The following constant species are found in this community:

• False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius)
• Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata)

One rare species, Nottingham Catchfly (Silene nutans), is associated with this community.

Distribution

This community is very widespread in lowland areas in England, Wales and southern and eastern Scotland.

Subcommunities

There are five subcommunities, and two of these have been further subdivided into a number of variants:

• the Festuca rubra subcommunity, subdivided into:
  • a Centaurea scabiosa variant
  • a Geranium pratense variant
  • a Bromus sterilis variant
  • a Myrrhis odorata variant
  • an Epilobium angustifolium variant
• the Urtica dioica subcommunity, subdivided into:
  • a Papaver rhoeas variant
  • an Artemisia vulgaris variant
  • an Epilobium hirsutum variant
• the Filipendula ulmaria subcommunity
• the Pastinaca sativa subcommunity
• the Centaurea nigra subcommunity

References

• Rodwell, J. S. (1992) British Plant Communities Volume 3 - Grasslands and montane communities ISBN 0-521-39166-0 (hardback), ISBN 0-521-62719-2 (paperback)