In the early 1980's, approximately 23 per cent of Britain's 195 million acres was covered by grassland - this figures do not include arable land under cereals which also belong to the grass family. Of some 34 million acres of farmland in Britain, about half is used for grass.

Among the dicotyledons represented are Campanula rotundifolia (harebell), Poterium sanguisorba (salad burnet), Thymus drucei (wild thyme) and Trifolium pratense (clover).

The conditions provided by the habitat are obviously very attractive to a great number of species; competition between which is intense.

Unlike woodlands, the species inhabitting grasslands present a greater uniformity of size.

The inter-relationships between the species in grasslands is more subtle than in, say, a woodland, but an highly integrated community is formed where any bare soil is quickly colonised with a dense carpet of plants.

Chalk and limestone grasslands have several characteristic species of grass including Common Quacking Grass (Breza media) and Tor Grass (Brachypodium pinnatum) which forms large, yellow-green, circular patches and is so coarse that only the hungriest animal will eat it.

The wood False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), a close relative of the Tor Grass (Brachypodium pinnatum) has much softer leaves and lawns on it's flowers; it often grows with the much taller Wood Millet (Milium effusum) which has dark green leaves and branches of flowering heads bent downwards.

Untended land will be taken over by grass and weeds such as black grass on arable land and annual meadow grass in pastures. These naturally prevelant grasses are less nutritious than the farmer would like thus farmers sow their fields with specially bred grasses.