Perennial grasslands, often nutrient-poor and species-rich, on calcareous and other basic soils of the nemoral and steppe zones and of adjacent parts of the subboreal and submediterranean zones. Includes the calcareous grasslands of central and western Europe, alvar grasslands of the Baltic region, and basic grasslands of the steppe zone. Vegetation communities of Festuco-Brometea.
Open or closed arid, floristically rich steppe-like grasslands of sub-continental areas of Central Europe, typically with Stipa spp., Festuca valesiaca, Festuca rupicola and Festuca trachyphylla. Vegetation of alliances such as Festucion valesiacae and Seslerio-Festucion glaucae with other species like Festuca pallens, Poa badensis, Carex humilis, Sesleria varia, Teucrium montanum, Ononis pusilla, Helianthemum canum, Iris aphylla, Onosma tornensis, Draba lasiocarpa, Scorzonera austriaca and Fumana procumbens.