This is a localised community, which is restricted to heavy-metal soils in the upland fringes of northern and western Britain.
This community is restricted to areas where soils are affected by the presence of heavy metals, particularly zinc.
It is found on the spoil heaps of lead mines and around outcrops of veins of heavy metals, most commonly in the limestone uplands of the Mendips, the dales of Derbyshire and Yorkshire, and the north Pennines.
This community is synonymous with the Minuartio - Lamietum alpestris Kock 1932, which was first described in Britain by Shimwell.
The phytosociology of calcareous grasslands in the British Isles (PhD thesis).