Synonymy

Elymetum repentis maritimum, Elymus repens, Potentilla anserina-Elymus repens-Vicia and Elymus repens-Potentilla anserina soziations? Nordhagen 1940.

Constant species

Agrostis stolonifera, Atriplex prostrata, Elymus repens, Festuca rubra.

Rare species

Allium scorodoprasum, Hordeum marinum.

Physiognomy

The Elymetum repentis has a closed grassy sward up to about 1 m tall, generally dominated by Elymus repens with usually smaller amounts of Festuca rubra and Agrostis stolonifera and, beneath, scattered plants of Atriplex prostrata and an open ground cover of Potentilla anserina. Oenanthe lachenalii, Sonchus arvensis, Rumex crispus and Cirsium arvense are occasional and often give a scruffy appearance to the vegetation and tussocks of Juncus gerardii or Festuca arundinacea may be locally prominent. The community is generally richer and more varied than the Atriplici-Elymetum with a wide range of occasionals of low frequency, some characteristic of other disturbed upper-marsh vegetation of strand-lines and reclamation banks, others more typical of rank inland grasslands. Allium scorodoprasum has been recorded in vegetation of this kind on the north Solway coast and Hordeum marinum from Somerset. Bryophytes occur occasionally with Eurhynchium praelongum, Amblystegium riparium, Funaria hygrometrica, Pottia heimii and Bryum spp.

Habitat

The community is characteristic of similar situations to those occupied by the Atriplici-Elymetum: upper-marsh areas where there is often a combination of disturbance, drift-litter deposition and some freshwater influence. It is, however, less consistently confined to well-drained sites, occasionally growing on heavy waterlogged clays.