Medio-European limestone [Fagus] forests

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.