16 The Presidential Address.
Yew,12 Holly,13 Hazel,14 Hornbeam,15 Birch, Ash, Hawthorn,
Alder, Willows, Aspen, Spindle-tree, Cornel, Buckthorn,
Elder, Wych Elm (Ulmus montana), Guelder Roses, Maple,
Apple, Mountain Ash, Sloe, Bullace, and, I believe, the Beech
and the Wild Cherries. I am more doubtful as to whether
it contained a Linden or a Common Elm (Ulmus campestris,
With.), and still more so as to the presence of the Privet.
The last tree appears indigenous in the south of Ireland, and
perhaps on the Sussex Downs, but hardly in Essex. The Elm
is confined to the south of England, and may have been
introduced with the Vine by the Romans. It is a hedgerow
rather than a forest tree, though no conclusion can be drawn
from its not often ripening seed in England, as this is
originated. It must probably have spread to Ireland through England.
See "On the Origin and Distribution of the British Flora," Trans. Essex
F. Club, vol. ii., p. 75, and DeCandolle, 'Geographie Botanique,' p. 1064.
12 The Yew is found in Irish peat-bogs, and existing trees may be more
than 2000 years old. ''The remains of many ligneous plants have been
found at the bottom of the peat, rooted in the clay upon which they grew,
such as the Hazel......Dugdale states that Oak and Fir trees have
been found with their roots in the firm earth below the peat; and that in
Marshland, a part of the Fen lying between Wisbech and the sea, Furze-
bushes and Nut-trees rooted in the solid earth were met with at sixteen
feet below the present surface. Indeed there can be no doubt that the
trees, Fir, Oak, Yew, &c., really grew on the soil which is now deeply
buried."—Professor Babington, 'Flora of Cambridgeshire,' p. xvi.
13 Ancient Holly trees form the oldest part of the Forest of Dean, round
the Speech-house, and oaths in the Forest courts were sworn on Holly-
branches. The tree in Aubrey's time formed the greater part of the
Forest of Kingswood, north of Bristol, and it has been noted as associated
with ancient earthworks on bleak Cornish hills, I have traced it in an
apparently indigenous condition, through the old Forest of Anderida, and
certainly its dense growth in Henhault, Theydon Garnon and Epping
Forests has every appearance of being indigenous.
14 Hazel-nuts occur commonly in the submerged forests. Hazel rods
have long been used for divining, and were buried with Benedictine
monks.
15 The Hornbeam I have traced under conditions having every appear-
ance of being indigenous through Sussex and Surrey. It "formed a
large, perhaps the chief part of the ancient forest on the clay north
of London, of which Enfield Chase was the remains" (Trimen & Dyer,
'Flora of Middlesex'), as also at Easeneye Park, Ware.