28
NOTES ON SOME ESSEX WOODS.
are so well known that mention is almost superfluous. As
a constant accompaniment we may note Bramble, Honeysuckle,
and Ivy, often inextricably woven, and among this tangle the
Primrose almost invariably lurks. A line drawn across the area
in discussion, however, marks the northern limit of the Primrose
in this part of Essex.
The Cuckoo-pint (Arum maculatum) (in our district) makes a
great show, but I believe it thins out towards southern Essex.
It is also a plant that somewhat increases in the open, and,
therefore, although it is exceedingly common, can hardly be
called typical. The Bugle (Ajuga reptans) seems to have its home
essentially in the woods and helps to give a character to the
woodland. In this respect it stands on the same footing as the
Early Purple Orchis (Orchis mascula). Their conspicuous showy
spikes, although not very numerous, occur with great regularity.
Less conspicuous, although equally common, many other plants
will occur to the reader. We may mention Wood-Sanicle
(Sanicula europaea) as an example of this inconspicuous group.
The class of plants that we may describe as "lingerers"
impart the greatest interest to these woods, and they are all
deserving of note, although I fear the greater part will escape
enumeration. We have mentioned one of the Crowfoots as
occurring in the ponds. There are two others in the woods
that, in my impression, should be described as "lingerers."
One is Ranunculus auricomus ("Goldielocks") and the other is
R. acris. As regards the former it will be said that it is
essentially a woodland plant. It is so, but it is very questionable
if it has anything like the spread that it had a century ago. It
is now, in the neighbourhood under consideration, by no means
a constant inhabitant, whereas the impression obtained from old
books is that of its great abundance. In referring to R. acris as
a lingerer, I am aware that I am inviting criticism. In my
neighbourhood there are only two situations in which it occurs
in quantity. That is in wet meadows and sometimes in woods.
I have elsewhere obtained proof that in the area under con-
sideration it is incapable of competing with R. bulbosus or R.
repens, and in short that it will not spread from the situations I
have named. R. bulbosus, I may remark, though so invasive in
the fields, very seldom occurs in the woods.
Of the family of Orchids the woods are a great preserve. I