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The Essex Naturalist
bank ends about midway along the riverside boundary of the site, a grass track
continues with a much more open aspect of the river. At about this point,
common club-rush Schoenoplectus lacustris is present in the river and further
south a small muddy island has formed and has developed a plant community
which includes brooklime Veronica beccabunga. In 1996 a small amount of the
invasive alien Hydrocotyle ranunculoides became established in the narrow
channel between the bank and the island.
In spring coltsfoot Tussilago farfara is common, and in early summer much of
the river bank is brightened by masses of wild turnip Brassica rapa ssp. campestris.
Later it is lucerne Medicago sativa ssp. sativa that is much in evidence. At the
very southern end of the sewage works, a metal gate which now remains
permanently open gives access to and from a riverside walk that continues to
join the Alders Brook as far as the railway lines from Liverpool Street station.
The view from the river bank from just beyond the gate, particularly looking
north towards Wanstead Park, is surprisingly rural for east London, and spoilt
only by the overhead power-lines.
As this newly formed addition to Epping Forest develops, changes will occur
in the species of plants growing there; it is hoped this record will be useful for
future comparisons. Sadly, inadequate information is available to describe the
frequency of individual species in the list that follows. In many instances, only
the grid-square in which a plant has been found is given, whereas in others some
indication to the actual location is shown. An indication is given of the dates or
years when a plant species was recorded, and to some extent present status. The
sequence of plants in the list follows the order and nomenclature of Stace
(1991). The letters and numbers after some of the entries refer to the squares
shown in Fig. 1, each square being 0.25 x 0.25 km.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments are due to Ted Godden and to Jennifer Charter for bringing
to my attention certain plants, birds and animals. Also to Mr J.I. Besent,
Superintendent of Epping Forest, and to the previous Deputy Superintendent,
Peter Burman who investigated and discussed the potential of the area for
becoming part of Epping Forest. Thanks are also due to an anonymous referee
for several useful comments and corrections.
References
Ferris, P.R., 1980. The flora of southern Epping Forest. Part 1: Wanstead Park. The London
Naturalist 59: 8-21
Plant, C.W., 1980. Redbridge (Southern) Sewage Treatment Works: Report on the Flora, Fauna and
Ecological Value of this site. Biological Records Centre, Passmore Edwards Museum.
Stace, CA., 1991. New Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press.