This association includes species-rich grasslands dominated by Nardus stricta or Avenella flexuosa which constitute the natural vegetation at the edges of glacial cirques in the Krkonoše, Hrubý Jeseník and Králický Sněžník Mountains. The habitats supporting this vegetation type are richer in nutrients than those of the association Festuco supinae-Nardetum strictae. In some places this vegetation also develops at deforested sites below the timberline.