Schoenus nigricans-dominated or -rich communities of rich fens of nemoral, Pannonic and Pontic Europe, of wide distribution, though less common in Alpine and peri-Alpine regions than the next unit, and confined to lower altitudes. Rushes, Juncus subnodulosus in British and western continental inland fens, Juncus balticus in dune-slack fens, are often abundant. Other accompanying species include Carex lepidocarpa, Carex hostiana, Carex panicea, Carex pulicaris, Eriophorum latifolium, Molinia caerulea, Dactylorhiza incarnata, Dactylorhiza praetermissa, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Dactylorhiza traunsteineri, Dactylorhiza traunsteinerioides, Epipactis palustris, Parnassia palustris, Pinguicula vulgaris, brown mosses and, locally, Pinguicula lusitanica and Drosera anglica. These communities have enormously regressed, particularly in northern and northwestern continental Europe, and are extinct in many regions.