7
molluscs forming a sizeable percentage of the molluscs identified (along with aqautic
molluscs).
Above the shell marl pollens are not present or are poorly represented due to oxidation.
However, seed remains found by other workers (Reid 1901) belong to cultivated species
such as Triticum sativum (wheat), Vitis vinifer (grape) and Prunus domestica (damson)
place the uppermost sediments to the post neolithic.
In the absence of carbon dating, a general correlation of the pollen assemblage zones is
given;
I would like to acknowledge Ms Dulcie Blake of the new Guildhall University for
identifying and pollen counting prepared slides.
Reference.
Reid. C. 1901 The seeds from alluvium, Walthamstow. Essex Nat.
A fuller account of the evidence for past environmental change of Walthamstow marshes
is in preparation for the "Naturalist".
Alyn Pilkington.
A NEW FLORA OF ESSEX
Imagine if in 1862 George Gibson, author of the first Flora of Essex, with a camcorder
and 35mm camera at his disposal, had imaged a thousand or so of the best botanical sites
and a good selection of the available habitats in Essex. We could now have the pleasure
of seeing just what the botany of Essex was really like in those far off days, and just how
sparse by comparison, it is today.
It is now 20 years since the second Flora of Essex by Stanley Jermyn was published.
Sadly, despite the waves of environmental concern that wash back and forth across our
consciousness, little has really been done to stem the tide of extinctions or the wanton
destruction of habitats, and we desperately need a new overall assessment of what we
have left.
In the new year I am proposing to launch 'A snapshot of the geography of Essex and its
plants project'. Over a 5 year period as many people as possible will be invited to assist in
surveying our Essex flora in preparation for a new Atlas of Essex Plants together with
one or more videodiscs, illustrating a thousand or so Essex sites and representative
habitats. Colour stills, panoramic shots and video sequences will be interfaced together as
a multi-media collection, so that maps of plant distributions, aerial photographs of sites,
and associated text, can be pulled up on the screen, together with close up pictures of the
plants in situ. The viewer will be able to call up a map of Essex and look at land use
across the whole county, or zoom in to a 10km or a 1km square and see the distribution of
arable, grassland, saltings, primary or secondary woodland, or even soil type. The idea is
to involve as many organisation with specific data bases, and individuals with particular
expertise, as possible, in a concentrated effort to record the face of Essex and its plants as
it has never been recorded before.
Ken Adams