It seems that by the late 19th century there was little in the flora that excited the
botanists of the day and even then it appears that the woodland was becoming over-
shadowed and a rather misguided management policy was attempting to remove some of
the less aesthetically pleasing pollard hornbeams (Plate 8). Beyond records in 1899/1900
of a fungal disease attacking birch trees in Lords Bushes (probably the microscopic
fungus Melanconis stilbostoma (51), I can find no further records until the late 1930's,
when the woodland along Forest Edge was cleared of its undergrowth and small trees
(this explains the number of apparently recently coppiced trees along this edge of Lords
Bushes) for a distance of some 30 yards into the woodland. As a result of this some
plants including figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) and common cow-wheat became
common for a short period of time (Scott pers.comm). More recently the only specific
higher plant record I can find in the Flora of Essex (34) is of the black sedge (Carex
nigra). Thus it appears that Lords Bushes has received scant attention from botanists in
the past and following the drought and clearance of 1976 with the subsequent ap-
pearance of a number of interesting plant species I decided to produce a flora for the
whole woodland.
THE PRESENT DAY FLORA OF LORDS BUSHES
Recording for the flora was carried out mainly between August 1977 and August
1979. For convenience I have divided Lords Bushes into 7 fairly discrete recording units
(see map 3(c)), and a brief description of these areas is given below.
(1) The Undisturbed Woodland
This recording unit embraces all that remains of the woodland that covered some
97% of Lords Bushes prior to 1976 and included what is now the burnt and disturbed
area (recording unit (3)) and it is useful to remember this when considering the flora of
the burnt and disturbed area.
The structure of the woodland, on the sands and gravels, consists typically of an
interlocking canopy of beech trees with, in places, a dense shrub layer of holly and the
occasional bramble (Rubus sp.) and other species of tree such as oak, hornbeam, or
birch and very little else, the field layer is virtually non-existent. On the London Clay too
there is a dense stand of trees consisting of oak, hornbeams and lesser numbers of other
tree species such as field maple and wild service and similarly there is a virtually non-
existent ground flora.
In recording the flora of the undisturbed woodland I have largely ignored 'in-
cidental' species, mostly weed species such as groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) and fireweed
(Epilobium angustifolium), that have colonised bare grund for example where a pollard
has been blown over. I feel that to record these would be misleading, because the ground
flora of the undisturbed woodland is so poor. I have, though, included native woodland
species such as blue-bell (Endymion non -scriptus) enchanter's nightshade (Circaea
lutetiana) foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), and remote sedge (Carex remota) which
although present are in extremely low numbers and found only in places where some
light is able to reach the woodland floor, they are not representative of the overall nature
of the woodland, but they may well be relics of the flora that occurred in this woodland
when actively pollarded and before beech came to overshade the woodland. I should also
mention that a number of tree species such as Swedish whitebeam (Sorbus intermedia)
ash (Fraxinus excelsior) yew (Taxus baccata) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea) are
present only as individuals or a few trees and some species, such as Swedish whitebeam,
are non-native.
(2) Undisturbed Grassland
There are small patches of long-established grassland, remnants of much larger
areas, that have been encroached upon by secondary growth since the cessation of
20