NVC community CG3 is one of the calcicolous grassland

Calcicolous grasslands in the British National Vegetation Classification system

This article gives an overview of the calcicolous grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The calcicolous grassland communities of the NVC were described in Volume 3 of British Plant Communities, first published in 1992, along with the...

 communities in the British National Vegetation Classification

British National Vegetation Classification

The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain....

 system. It is one of four communities of rank, tussocky grassland associated with low levels of grazing, within the lowland calcicolous grassland group.

It is a comparatively widely distributed community. There are four subcommunities.

Community composition

The following constant species are found in this community:

• Upright Brome (Bromus erectus)
• Glaucous Sedge (Carex flacca)
• Sheep's Fescue
  Sheep's Fescue
  Sheep's Fescue or Sheep Fescue is a species of grass.-General Description:It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic ground, for example in the Portlethen Moss, Scotland and mountain pasture, throughout Europe and eastwards across much of Asia; it has also been introduced to North...
  
   (Festuca ovina)
• Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
• Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
• Salad Burnet
  Salad Burnet
  Sanguisorba minor is a plant in the family Rosaceae that is native to western, central and southern Europe; northwest Africa and southwest Western Asia; and which has naturalized in most of North America...
  
   (Sanguisorba minor)

The following rare species are also associated with the community:

• Man Orchid
  Man orchid
  Orchis anthropophora, the Man Orchid , is a European species of orchid whose flowers resemble a human figure. The head is formed by the petals and sepals, and the suspended torso and limbs by the lobes of the labellum...
  
   (Aceras anthropophorum)
• Purple Milk-vetch (Astragalus danicus)
• Dwarf Sedge (Carex humilis)
• Spotted Cat's-ear (Hypochoeris maculata)
• Perennial Flax (Linum perenne subsp. anglicum)
• Round-headed Rampion (Phyteuma tenerum)
• Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcarea)
• Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)
• Field Fleawort (Senecio integrifolius ssp. integrifolius)
• Bastard-toadflax (Thesium humifusum)
• Large Thyme (Thymus pulegioides)

Subcommunities

There are four subcommunities:

• the so-called typical subcommunity:
• the Centaurea nigra subcommunity
• the Knautia arvensis - Bellis perennis subcommunity
• the Festuca rubra - Festuca arundinacea subcommunity