Closed grasslands of deep, acid soils of the Alps, Pyrenees, northern Apennines, Jura and higher Hercynian ranges, developed mostly and abundantly in the subalpine level, dominated or co-dominated by Nardus stricta, Festuca eskia, F. nigrescens, F. rubra, Alopecurus gerardii, Bellardiochloa (Poa) violacea, Carex sempervirens, Anthoxanthum odoratum.
Subalpine and alpine hygro-mesophile, chionophilous mat-grass swards of depressions and humid flats around lakes and marshes, where snow melts slowly.