Cool, moist forests with a multispecific tree layer of variable dominance, most often on more or less abrupt slopes.
Mixed forests of Ulmus glabra, Acer campestre, A. opalus, Fraxinus excelsior, Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea, Q. robur, Tilia cordata, T. platyphyllos, Sorbus aria, S. mougeotii, Alnus glutinosa, Pinus sylvestris, Hedera helix, with an understorey comprising numerous shrubs, such as Corylus avellana and Crataegus monogyna, and a rich and luxuriant herb layer including numerous ferns, characteristic of the bottom colluvions of steep, shaded valleys, canyons and gorges of the collinar to montane levels of the Pyrenean and Cantabrian ranges.