Meso-, thermo- and sometimes supra-Mediterranean formations of the Mediterranean basin, physiognomically dominated by tall grasses, between which may grow communities of annuals or sometimes chamaephytes. They include silicicolous as well as basiphile formations. In the Mediterranean region proper, they are most characteristic of the Iberian peninsula and of the Mediterranean rim of Anatolia, with local representations in southern Provence, Sardinia, southern peninsular Italy, Sicily and Greece. In the semiarid regions between the Mediterranean and the deserts of western Asia, they dominate the landscape, forming a major steppe belt in which low scrub of Artemisia may be prominent.