Iberia in Essex
M.W. Hanson 3 Church Cottages, Church Road, Boreham, Essex
No, you have not misread the title.....I was reading through some literature on the Cork
Oak forests of Spain and Portugal recently - they too are a type of wood-pasture known
in Spain as dehesa and in Portugal as montado; unlike the UK they still cover vast tracts
of land, around 3.4 million hectares is the combined estimate for these two countries
and there are further outliers in North Africa, Greece and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
It is estimated that 50 -60 % of the World's Cork Oak forest is in the Iberian peninsular.
Some texts will classify them as savannah and indeed in appearance they are mature
tree-ed areas with extensive (maybe 65%) grasslands. They differ in many ways from
UK wood pasture not least because the are still an economically viable and generally
working agri-environment, producing cork for wine bottles, fodder for livestock (sheep
and pigs), some shifting cereal production and peripheral agricultural products like resins,
aromatic plant oils (lavender and cistus) and honey.
They are also thought to be the most bio-diverse remaining farmland eco-system in the
EU, key species are the Imperial Eagle and the Iberian Lynx (both endangered) but also
numerous 'ordinary' species like the Hoopoe and Black Vulture. The plant life is also
very characteristic the trees are predominantly Cork Oak Quercus suber, Holm Oak Q.
ilex including Q. rotundifolia and in a few areas Pyrenean Oak Q. pyrenaica. The Holm
Oaks tend to produce a more densely wooded landscape. Stone Pine Pinus pinea is also
characteristic of this assemblage particularly in coastal areas. There are also numerous
shrub species Portugal Laurel Prunus laurocerasus, Bay Laurus nobilis, Strawberry
Tree Arbutus unedo. Holly Ilex aquifolium, Phyllirea P. latifolia, Myrtle Myrtus communis
and Carob Ceratonia siliqua. The smaller shrubby species would include various Cistus
and Lavenders. Wild Olive Olea europaea is also rarely present.
The thing about the previous list of trees and shrubs characteristic of the Mediterranean
is that they can all be found growing outside and doing well in Essex....... but
unfortunately not at the same site. Many are proven residents in the county and in fact
have produced better specimen trees than in their usual home range. First are the massive
Cork Oaks nearly 200 years old at Wivenhoe Park brought back by General Rebow
from his Peninsular War campaign in 1814, then there is the 18ft 6 inch Holm Oak in St.
Osyth Cemetery (it is also a very widespread and common parkland tree in the County)
and the national champion Pyrenean Oak in Hylands Park. I suspect these latter 3 trees
are far larger specimens than any growing in the Mediterranean and have survived the
very harsh winters of 1947 and 1963. Stone Pine is rare in Essex but I know of a handful
of plantings, the best of which is probably the one in Hatfield Forest. Most of the trees
and shrubs referred to are found, some very commonly, in gardens the exceptions being
Phyllirea, Myrtle and Olive. Olive is a bit marginal (it is the definitive Mediterranean
tree, but there is currently concern over the destruction of olive groves in southern Europe.
There is one in Boreham in a front garden and also one at Saling Hall arboretum. Myrtle
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 50, May 2006
15