NVC community CG5 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 two subcommunities.

Community composition

The following constant species are found in this community:

• Tor Grass (Brachypodium pinnatum)
• Quaking Grass (Briza media)
• Upright Brome (Bromus erectus)
• Glaucous Sedge (Carex flacca)
• Dwarf Thistle (Cirsium acaule)
• 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)
• Common Rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium)
• Mouse-ear Hawkweed
  Mouse-ear Hawkweed
  Mouse-ear Hawkweed is a yellow-flowered species of Asteraceae, native to Europe and northern Asia. It produces single, citrus-colored inflorescences. It is an allelopathic plant...
  
   (Hieracium pilosella)
• Rough Hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus)
• Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
• 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)
• Wild Thyme
  Wild thyme
  Thymus serpyllum, known by the common names of Breckland Thyme, Wild Thyme or Creeping Thyme is a species of thyme native to most of Europe and North Africa. It is a low, usually prostrate subshrub growing to 2 cm tall with creeping stems up to 10 cm long, with oval evergreen leaves...
  
   (Thymus praecox)

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)
• Rare Spring-sedge (Carex ericetorum)
• Slender Bedstraw (Galium pumilum)
• Musk Orchid
  Musk Orchid
  The musk orchid is a commonly occurring species of European orchid.-Status in Britain:Musk orchids have a localised distribution in Britain. Sites where it is found include Ham Hill in Wiltshire....
  
   (Herminium monorchis)
• Round-headed Rampion (Phyteuma tenerum)
• Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcarea)
• Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)
• Bastard-toadflax (Thesium humifusum)
• Large Thyme (Thymus pulegioides)

Distribution

This community is found in lowland limestone grassland throughout England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

One noted example occurs at Barnsley Warren

Barnsley Warren

Barnsley Warren is a 61.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. The site is also a Nature Conservation Review site...

 in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, and within it are 30,000 Pasqueflowers

Pulsatilla vulgaris

Pulsatilla vulgaris belongs to the buttercup family , native to western, central and southern Europe....

 (Pulsatilla vulgaris), Britain's largest colony.

Subcommunities

There are four subcommunities:

• the so-called typical subcommunity:
• the Hieracium spp. subcommunity