 The dark-red helleborine favours warm and dry locations, with soil basic to neutral in pH, nutrient-poor, and permeable.It grows in loose rock, scree, or sandy soils above a limestone substrate, including dunes, lawns, or open forest.It is also a pioneer species, which settles in fallow areas, road embankments, and waste dumps, in the early to middle stages of ecological succession, among communities of grass and bush and light birch stands.