196
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
The Occurrence of Iris versicolor L.
in Epping Forest
BY BERNARD T. WARD
The purpose of this note is to place on record the occurrence of this
species in a swampy patch near High Beach, Epping Forest (vice county
18 South Essex). This North American species has been known in a reed
swamp in Ullswater for over forty years and according to the Flora of the
British Isles by Clapham, Tutin and Warburg, is naturalised in one or two
places, chiefly in the north. Since 1946 I have noted a strongly-growing
Iris in a swampy patch. It was not until some years later that I succeeded in
finding the plant in bloom, when its striking purplish-pink flowers attracted
too much attention from the visiting public and it was not possible to
secure satisfactory specimens to enable it to be identified. In the succeeding
years the plant either failed to bloom or the site was so dry that the flowers
were taken before I could secure specimens. During the past year, however,
the swamp has remained sufficiently moist to keep out the public, and the
plants have blossomed profusely, enabling me to obtain both flowers and,
essential for sure identification, a supply of seed-pods. The plants grow in
dense clumps throughout the swamp; the leaves are about two feet six
inches in height and are overtopped by the flowering stems by about six
inches. The new Flora describes the colour of the flowers as rather pale
pinkish-purple, but I consider those of the Epping Forest plants are rather
more purplish than pink. The seeds are a medium-dark brown, D-shaped,
flattened, with a thin integument, which is hard, smooth and profusely
covered with concave pits. As the seeds ripen the weight of the seed-
capsules carries the flowering stems over so that the ripened heads are out of
sight amongst the leaves. This also assists in the dispersal of the seeds
which can shake out more readily from the now almost horizontal pod.
Numerous enquiries have been made in the vicinity, and also of the Forest
authorities as to the origin of these plants but without success. Some
forty years ago the area was occupied by a nursery but it seems improbable
that the plant has survived without notice for such a long period. Efforts
have been made to trace if the species has been grown in neighbouring
gardens from whence it could have been thrown out, but here again with
negative results. It is known that some well-meaning but ill-advised
persons occasionally think it desirable to introduce plants into the Forest
area but fail to record that they have done so, thereby causing unnecessary
difficulties in recording the Flora of the Forest. This procedure is to be
deprecated without publication in the local or national botanical journals,
hence it is thought desirable to place the occurrence on record to avoid
future confusion. My best thanks are due to Mr. A. C. Herrick of the Iris
Society, who has given much help with the identification of the plant and
also to our member and Forest Verderer, Col. E. N. Buxton, who has
assisted me in making enquiries about the possible origin of the plants in
this locality.