British NVC community MG2 (Arrhenatherum elatius- Filipendula ulmaria tall-herb grassland) is one of the mesotrophic grassland

Mesotrophic grasslands in the British National Vegetation Classification system

This article gives an overview of the mesotrophic grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.-Introduction:The mesotrophic 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 a localised community found only in northern England. There are two subcommunities.

Community composition

The following constant species are found in this community:

• Wild Angelica
  Wild Angelica
  Wild Angelica is a species of plant that grows about one metre tall. It has broad, double-finned leaves. The stem is coarse, tubular and violet at the bottom, with broad leaf shafts.At the top the stem has fine hairs....
  
   (Angelica sylvestris)
• False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius)
• Crosswort
  Crosswort
  Crosswort is a name commonly applied to several plants, including:* Crucianella stylosa * Cruciata laevipes * Lysimachia quadrifolia...
  
   (Cruciata laevipes)
• Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata)
• Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)
• Broad-leaved Willowherb (Epilobium montanum)
• Red Fescue (Festuca rubra)
• Meadowsweet
  Meadowsweet
  Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as Meadowsweet, is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia...
  
   (Filipendula ulmaria)
• Water Avens
  Water Avens
  Geum rivale, the Water Avens, is a flowering plant of the family Rosaceae. Other names for the plant are Nodding Avens, Drooping Avens, Cure All and Water Flower. It is native to much of Europe, with the exception of Mediterranean areas, as well as some parts of Central Asia and North...
  
   (Geum rivale)
• Common Hogweed
  Common Hogweed
  Heracleum sphondylium, common names Common Hogweed or Cow parsnip, is a herbaceous perennial or biennial plant of the family Apiaceae. It is an umbelliferous plant, in the same group as fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and giant hogweed...
  
   (Heracleum sphondylium)
• Dog's Mercury
  Dog's Mercury
  Mercurialis perennis, commonly known as dog's mercury, is a woodland plant found in much of Europe, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland. A member of the spurge family , it is a herbaceous, downy perennial with erect stems bearing simple, serrate leaves. The dioecious inflorescences...
  
   (Mercurialis perennis)
• Rough Meadow-grass (Poa trivialis)
• Red Campion
  Red Campion
  Red campion is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe....
  
   (Silene dioica)
• Stinging Nettle
  Stinging nettle
  Stinging nettle or common nettle, Urtica dioica, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of the nettle genus Urtica...
  
   (Urtica dioica)
• Common Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
• Swartz's Feather-moss (Eurhynchium swartzii)
• Hart's-tongue Thyme-moss (Plagiomnium undulatum)
• Dented Silk-moss (Plagiothecium denticulatum)
• Bifid Crestwort (Lophocolea bidentata sensu lato)

One rare species, Jacob's-ladder

Polemonium

Polemonium, commonly called Jacob's ladder, is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Polemoniaceae, native to cool temperate to arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and also in the southern Andes in South America...

 (Polemonium caeruleum), is associated with this community.

Distribution

This community is confined to a small number of localities in northern England - in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, Craven

Craven

Craven is a local government district in North Yorkshire, England that came into being in 1974, centred on the market town of Skipton. In the changes to British local government of that year this district was formed as the merger of Skipton urban district, Settle Rural District and most of Skipton...

 and the Cheviots.

Subcommunities

There are two subcommunities:

• the Filipendula ulmaria subcommunity
• the Polemonium caeruleum subcommunity