Riparian forests of Fraxinus excelsior and Alnus glutinosa, sometimes Alnus incana, of middle European and northern Iberian lowland or hill watercourses, on soils periodically inundated by the annual rise of the river level, but otherwise well-drained and aerated during low-water; they differ from riparian alder woods within 44.9 by the strong representation in the dominated layers of forest species not able to grow in permanently waterlogged soils.
Alder or ash-alder galleries of the banks of fast-flowing rivers and large brooks replacing the peri-Alpine Alnus incana galleries in hills of northern and western Europe. They are usually co-dominated by Alnus glutinosa, Fraxinus excelsior and Acer pseudoplatanus, accompanied by Acer platanoides, Ulmus glabra, U. laevis. Prunus padus is frequent in the undergrowth, shrubs include Ribes rubrum, R. uva-crispa, Corylus avellana; the herb layer comprises Stellaria nemorum, Impatiens noli-tangere, Aconitum vulparia, Allium ursinum, Geum rivale, Athyrium filix-femina, Dryopteris carthusiana, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Ranunculus platanifolius, Urtica dioica, Ranunculus ficaria, Primula elatior, Lamium galeobdolon or Filipendula ulmaria, Luzula sylvatica. The gallery may be enclosed within other forests or reduced to a thin line of alders along rivers traversing pastureland.