This association includes species-poor stands dominated by Pteridium aquilinum, a tall fern with intensive vegetative spreading through underground rhizomes. It develops in logging clearings of former acidophilous oak or beech forests or pine plantations in corresponding habitats. Large stands develop particularly in the first years after forests fires. Soils are acidic and nutrient-poor, developing on sand or sandstones. In the Czech Republic this association occurs mainly in sandstone areas of northern and eastern Bohemia, but it can be also found elsewhere and outside sandy habitats.