the Forest in the mid-19th century and sold on the London streets. It is thought that decreasing light
levels associated with the closing of the Forest canopy has contributed to the extinction of this species
in the Forest. The actual identity of the species of polypody in the Forest is not known. No specimen
ever seems to have been collected and preserved from the Forest. Two species of Polypody (P. vulgare
and P. interjectum) and their hybrid are known today from walls in the vicinity of Loughton Hall just
outside the Forest.
Other woodland ferns include the Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas) and the Broad Buckler Fern
(Dryopteris dilatata). Both are widespread throughout the Forest on ditch and stream edges. The
graceful Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina) is less frequent and like most fern species, is found mainly
in the northern part of the Forest. Many ferns, now rare or uncommon in eastern England, have been
reported from the Forest (Payne, 1960): among them Narrow Buckler Fern (Dryopteris carthusiana),
Golden-scaled Male Fern (D. pseudomas) and the Soft and Hard Shield Ferns (Polystichum setiferum
and P. aculeatum). The latter is probably extinct in the Forest, but the Soft Shield Fern has been
reported recently from the Lower Forest.
Richard Warner in 1777 reported Mistletoe (Viscum album), a parasitic plant on Oaks in the Forest,
mainly between Loughton and Epping. I have recently seen it only three times in the Epping Forest
area - on cultivated apple trees in gardens in South Woodford and Epping and on a planted Crab Apple
on the margin of Copped Hall Green. Other notable woodland plants include Yellow Bird's-nest
(Monotropa hypopitys) a saprophyte, lacking chlorophyll and often found in Beech woodland was
reported from Great Monk Wood in 1922 and 1927, since when there have been no further records.
Bird's-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) has been noted in the Forest area on several occasions. Thomas
Furley Forster found it in 1788 near the south gate of the Sale at Hale End. Gibson, writing in 1862,
also reported it from Hawk Wood and later at the turn of the century this curious saprophytic orchid
was noted from Woodredon Hill and High Beach. It was last seen in the Forest in 1909. Thin-Spiked
Wood Sedge (Carex strigosa), known from only a handful of sites, mostly coppiced woodland, in
Essex, was found by Dr. Ken Adams off the Clay Road in 1982.
The Lower Forest, north of Epping, situated on chalky boulder clay, has produced a rather different
woodland flora from the rest of the Forest. It is the only site where Herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia) has
been seen. Edward Forster noted it here in the late 18th century (EN XIX p.226). Other plants found
here today and generally not common in the rest of the Forest include Wood Sanicle, Oxalis , Sweet
Violet, Dog's Mercury, Goldilocks, Bluebell and Primrose.
Generally common species found throughout the Forest but mainly on the margins or where shading
is not too heavy include Lesser Celandine, Herb Robert, Wood Avens, Red Campion. Arum and
Foxglove. Many of the last mentioned plants are found along the Cuckoo Brook and on stream sides
in Monk Wood but not under the dense stands of pollard trees. One woodland rarity is Wall Lettuce
(Mycelis muralis) found in Lords Bushes, otherwise known from only a handful of sites in Essex.
Wood Anemone is interesting in that Warner in 1771 reported it 'In woods, under hedges, and all over
the wooded parts of the Forest: common', hardly its status today. Probably it was common in patches
under the pollard trees and being a poisonous and acrid tasting member of the buttercup family it
would have been little touched by livestock (Fig. 1).
Ancient Woodland: Coppiced
In Epping Forest, the trees were almost entirely managed as pollards. In other Forests, for example
Hatfield, this was not the case. Hatfield has pollard trees but also discrete areas of coppiced woodland
bounded by a wood bank and ditch. Hatfield is termed a compartmented wood-pasture because of
these areas of coppice stools, whilst Epping is defined as an uncompartmented wood-pasture
(Rackham, 1989).
In coppiced woodland the trees were cut at ground level (Fig. 2) and the regrowth protected from
the attentions of browsing livestock by a hedge or hurdle fence on the woodbank. Coppice stools,
however, do occur in Epping Forest especially in the vicinity of the Wake Arms (now City Limits)
and on Loughton Camp. The stools, mostly Beech, are usually 6-12 ft. across. Sometimes immense
stools, over 20 ft, across, occur, often with the poles pollarded. There is an interesting entry in the roll
of the Court of Attachments for 1799 (CA III p.32), which relates the inhabitants of Waltham cutting
underwood in St. Thomas' Quarters (there are still many coppice stools here). Underwood was a term
explicitly used for coppice stools (not pollards) and indicates that despite animals being grazed here
coppicing was a recognised form of management in the wood-pasture. Shredding, where the lateral
branches of a tree were cut leaving a tuft of growth on the top, is mentioned very rarely in Epping
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