Loads of interesting plants were found, such as Goldilocks Buttercup, Three-nerved
Sandwort, Creeping Jenny, Yellow Pimpernel, Wood-sorrel, Trailing St John's-Wort, and
three different Crowfoots (all in flower) including the scarce Ivy-leaved Crowfoot. We
all admired the non-native Perfoliate Alexanders, which was very decorative but from a
distance looked more like a big spurge with its yellow colours; it was added to the list as
it was growing well outside the garden from which it had presumably escaped.
The most exciting bit was the stream. This meandered through the southern part of the
wood, and was in a little gully about 1m deep, with steep banks and, opposite, sloping
bits with pebbles, alternating along its winding course. The trees overhead were large
and gave a closed canopy, so the stream area was humid and well shaded from the sun;
this was a habitat not often found in our dry county. Tim Pyner wisely wore big wellies
and walked down the stream bed for most of its length, examining all the bryophytes on
the wet banks. He found two which were new records for South Essex, one of which was
also a new record for Essex. The rarest one was a tiny leafy liverwort, (Microlejeuna)
only visible at all with a lOx lens. Then there were the ferns, loads of them! More Hart's-
tongue than I have ever seen before, Male-fern, Scaly Male-fern, Lady-fern, Broad Buckler-
fern, Soft Shield-fern, but, sadly, no Lemon-scented Fern. When we emerged into the light
we shook the caterpillars and sticks from our necks and the biting insects from our hair!
In early May I was initiated into the uncharted waters of the Characeae at Hunts Hill. A
casual look around to check on the Crowfoot seen last year was fruitless as far as Crowfoots
(Crowsfeet??) were concerned, but we found a Stonewort instead. I packed it off to Ken
Adams; he quickly identified it and I was asked to go back to check its grid ref and find
some more kinds. Another, much scarcer and more interesting one, was soon found.
Later on we may go out in the boat and try to dredge some more up. They feel crisp and
rough, due to a coating of limey minerals, and this has to be removed by gently soaking
in acid before they can be identified. The crunch of the mineral coat is what gives
stoneworts their name, but actually they are algae, along with blanket weed and seaweeds.
The lake is a young one, in an old gravel pit, low in nutrients, which is just what stoneworts
like. Many species are becoming very rare, as their former lakes become too enriched by
fertilisers, or otherwise polluted. So stoneworts are like the canaries in the coal-mines,
warning of danger in water quality when they die. While we were looking down, the bird
life overhead was beautiful; Lapwings calling when we got too near their nests, Skylarks
singing above us, while Swallows and Sand Martins were wheeling around over the lake.
We hastened away, to cause minimum disturbance.
I know Kent is not Essex, but you really need to know, if you don't already, about Samphire
Hoe. It is the newest part of Britain, made from the chalky marl dug out when the Channel
Tunnel was dug. The waste material has been made into a most attractive Country Park
on the foreshore between Dover and Folkestone, but can only be reached from the Dover
end of the A20. Some of it was sown with grass mixes soon after landscaping, but much
of it was left for natural colonising. The plants clothing it now have mostly come from
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 39, September 2002
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