Xero-thermophile Fagus sylvatica forests developed on calcareous, often superficial, soils, usually of steep slopes, of the medio-European and Atlantic domaines of Western Europe and of central and northern Central Europe (also present in Greece), with a generally abundant herb and shrub undergrowth, characterised by sedges (Carex spp.), grasses (Sesleria albicans, Brachypodium pinnatum), orchids (Cephalanthera spp., Neottia nidus-avis, Epipactis spp.) of alliance Cephalanthero-Fagenion and thermophile species, transgressive of the Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae. The bush-layer includes several calcicolous species (Ligustrum vulgare, Berberis vulgaris) and Buxus sempervirens can dominate.