Environmental Description:  Stands of this association occur in cismontane California. Most wetland meadow communities found at lower and middle elevations, although they occasionally occur on the margins and bottoms of shallow lakes and ponds in non-meadow conditions. Most sites are permanently flooded or permanently saturated, but occasionally they can be seasonally saturated or seasonally flooded. Water is characteristically supplied from surface sheeting or subsurface flows originating upstream or upslope from the site. The association occupies shallow lake margins and beds, ponds, and depressions in meadow systems where slopes usually average less than 1% and range between 0 and 2%. Most commonly the community is located in the bottom of broad to very broad valleys with shallow upland slopes and low valley bottom gradients.

Montane meadows in the Sierra Nevada containing this association are forested at the edge, and they are located adjacent to permanent streams as stringer meadows. A few sites are located in basin-type meadows. Only occasionally is this community found adjacent to streams. Most meadow sites are some distance from streams in depressions. In cases where the association does occur adjacent to streams, such streams are typically small, first-order channels less than 1.5 m (5 feet) wide, indicating their locations in the upper reaches of most drainages. Surfaces are linear to concave. Meadows containing this association are seasonally saturated on the surface from snowmelt, and surfaces may be covered with standing water during spring runoff. Early fall and late spring storms as well as summer thunderstorms may also saturate surfaces for short periods. Often these sites are classified as lotic or sunken concave, and they contain abundant moisture. They are characteristically located in wet to very wet habitats (Potter 2005).