NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 147
Epipactis latifolia Sw. [Bentham; media Fr. Bab.]—In a coppice
the lower extremity of the wood (part of the old Hainault Forest), between
Chigwell Row Church and the open plain at Lambourne End, on July 17th,
1809, flowers not quite open. On August 23rd I found three specimens in full
bloom. On the latter day, Mr. S. Arthur Sewell was with me, and we
verified the plants by Bentham and Sowerby.—(Rev.) Alfred Huddle, M.A.,
Buckhurst Hill.
[In the small collection of plants gathered by J. Ray, of Epping
recently acquired for our Museum, are two specimens of Epipactis from
Epping, labelled latifolia. Gibson gives both forms as occurring rarely in
woods near Epping and Woodford, but Newbold remarks (Flora, p. 309), "as
most, if not all, of the Cambridge stations for E. latifolia produce only
E. media, the same may be the case in Essex."—Ed.]
Rhamnus frangula, L., in Epping Forest.—This shrub I first found
(at Mr. F. W. Elliott's station, E.N., x, 397) on June 7th, 1892. Strolling on
August 25th, 1899, through Leyton Flats, from Eagle Pond towards Whipp's
Cross, in the coppice where formerly I had found it, I counted 8 scattered
specimens, varying from 4 to 10 feet high, and one isolated specimen (unfor-
tunately cut down during a recent forest fire, but throwing up vigorous
shoots) a furlong south-west of the coppice. The coppice runs parallel to the
Snaresbrook Road, near the Eagle Pond.—(Rev.) Alfred Huddle, M.A.,
Buckhurst Hill, October 25th, 1899.
The Old Yew Tree in Woodford Churchyard, Essex. During a
correspondence in the London Standard in May last some interesting details
were given of this old yew, In 1809, Dr. Hughson, in his London, stated that
the tree was the largest within twelve miles of London, and measured 14 feet
3 inches round at four and a half feet from the ground, and that the spread of
its branches covered a circle 180 feet in circumference. Mr. W. Bradbrooke,
of Bletchley, said that in October, 1892, he found the Woodford yew to
measure over 15 feet round and the spread of the branches to be about 150
feet. Mr. Henry Spring, of Woodford, gave the dimensions as 15 feet in
girth at 21/2 feet from the ground, and 18 feet girth at 5 up He added "the
Rector, the Rev. A. Hughes, informs me that there is a record that in the
year 1816, when Woodford Church was re-built, the spread of the branches
was 180 feet, and this is probably correct, judging from an old engraving of it.
It is generally believed to be about 800 years old." Curiously enough, this
tree is not mentioned in Warner's Plants Woodfordienses.
Practical Instruction in Botany in the London Parks.—An excellent
suggestion has been made to utilise the parks of London for the teaching of
practical botany in connection with elementary and secondary schools.
It is proposed that plots o! ground should be laid out and devoted to the cultiva-
tion, for school purposes, of hardy plants belonging to some twenty typical
natural orders. The beds would be arranged near the paths, one bed being
devoted to each order. A botanical guide to the parks might also be pub-
lished, under the superintendence of the Technical Education Board and the
Parks Committee jointly, and teachers would be enabled to obtain from the
superintendent in each park such specimens as are required for botanical study
in the schools, as far as they could be supplied without detriment to the plants
themselves. The experiment is to be tried, and if later on it should prove to