Cabbage thistle meadows

Tall-herb rich wet meadows dominated by, or with an abundance of, [Cirsium oleraceum], distributed in Western and Central Europe from Denmark, locally Scania, northwestern Germany, Belgium, France, northwestern Spain, east to Poland, Lithuania, the Bohemian basin, Austria, best developed in the submontane level of the Hercynian ranges, the Jura and the pre-Alps on base-rich loams of river and brook floodplains and lakesides; [Cirsium oleraceum], [Angelica sylvestris], [Caltha palustris], [Lychnis flos-cuculi], [Ranunculus acris], [Polygonum bistorta], [Rumex acetosa], [Holcus lanatus], [Alopecurus pratensis], [Festuca pratensis], [Poa trivialis] are characteristic of their cortège; in northern Germany, Poland, Lithuania, the communities are enriched in [Polygonum bistorta] and lack several characteristics of their middle Hercynian cortège, in particular [Sanguisorba officinalis], [Colchicum autumnale], [Silaum silaus].