114 EPPING FOREST
Scotch fir, willows of various sorts, etc., of which
a few individual specimens may be found in the
Forest; but as they are not indigenous, but have
either been planted or have seeded themselves
from cultivated ground, I take no particular notice
of them here. I have also omitted the hazel, as,
although we learn that Gilbert de Ecclesia of
Chingford "was obliged, by the tenure of his
lands, to find a man to gather nuts for the lord of
the manor," he would find it impossible to fulfil
his bargain at the present day.
The Oak (Quercus Robur). There are two varieties of the
common oak in England—sessiliflora and pedunculata.
It is the former which abounds in the Forest. It is dis-
tinguished from the latter by the acorns being borne close
to the stalk instead of on footstalks, and by smaller foliage.
The largest trunk on the Forest ground stands just
within the enclosure by Fairmead Lodge. It has been
pollarded up to comparatively recent times, so that the
spread of branches is not great, but it has a grand
rugged stem 22 ft. 7 in. in circumference at 3 feet from
the ground. On the rising ground beyond Connaught
Water there is a line tree of wide spread, known as
Grimston's Oak, so named after the late Hon. Robert
Grimston, the well-known cricketer, who first called
attention to it, and at whose suggestion a space was
cleared around it; but the oak of grandest dimensions
in the Forest is the old pollard that stands by Fairmead
Lodge. There are many picturesque oak pollards of
great age in Lord's Bushes, but not only have they been
lopped until recently, but they have been overshadowed
by younger and more vigorous trees, and their decay
thereby much hastened. The oaks are much injured in
some seasons by a plague of the small green caterpillar1
(Tortrix viridana), which devours the young leaf in
May and June. In some seasons every vestige of foliage
is eaten from many of the oaks, and the caterpillars
hang in festoons from the bare branches, which are sur-
rounded later in the year by dense clouds of the small
moths. Although a second foliage is put forth many
trees are seriously injured. It is perhaps indirectly
caused by severe winters, which by destroying immense
numbers of birds promote an unnatural increase in the
insects upon which they prey. The jays, by destroying
great quantities of eggs, befriend the caterpillars, and
are partly responsible for the mischief. The birds have,
however, now recovered their majority. The cater-
pillars are in opposition, and the foliage just now is less
injured.
The Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is certainly entitled to the
second place, if not the first, among the Forest trees for
1 For the life-history of those and other destructive pests, see Mr.
Cole's Chapter, p. 33.