Fig. 1 Wood Anemone drawn from a specimen found by the Ching Brook near Hatch Grove (MH)
Polypody grew very abundantly in Epping Forest, chiefly on the crowns of the old pollarded
hornbeams and oaks, which were often most picturesquely crowned and festooned by it. ...
My own acquaintance with the Forest (particularly that part lying north of Epping, including
Wintry Wood) extends back to 1869.1 was then quite a small child, but I can remember very
distinctly the masses of fronds of polypody which then covered the crowns of many trees. ...
But go there now and see how many trees are still festooned in this way Peradventure there
may be a couple of dozen.'
Richard Warner writing in 1771 did not indicate there was such a profuse growth of polypody. He
recorded it from the banks of hollow ways and also at the roots of trees and sometimes in holes of
hollow oaks. He reported it from the Woodford area only on an Oak tree between Monkhams and the
Bald-faced Stag (i.e. Lords Bushes). This epiphytic fern was apparently collected in thousands from
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