This association includes open stands of Nymphaea candida, which occur in oligo-mesotrophic to slightly eutrophic, in places also dystrophic water. It is most common in fishponds with low-intensity management and alluvial water bodies in colline to submontane landscapes. It does not tolerate complete drainage of the water body. Vegetation with N. candida is a component of natural successional series in water bodies, however, succession in oligo-mesotrophic water bodies is rather slow. In the Czech Republic, localities of this vegetation type are scattered mainly at mid-altitudes of the Bohemian Massif, but it also occurs in the floodplain of the middle Labe river.