Flustra foliacea is a cold temperate species that is most frequently found on coarse grounds which have stable, fixed substrata and strong currents. Colonies, however, are able to colonise the majority of hard substrata such as shells, stones or cobbles. The species occurs subtidally, but is often washed on to the strand line. F. foliacea has been recorded from brackish environments in the Bay of Fundy, Baltic Sea and the Netherlands (Winston, 1977).