25
Review of the wildlife of Epping Forest in 1998
JEREMY DAGLEY
Corporation of London, The Warren, Loughton, IG10 4RW.
Fungi
The highlight in Epping Forest was the
discovery, by an observant walker, of the
tooth-fungus Hericium clathroides (formerly
H. ramosum) growing on a decaying Beech
log at Rushey Plain. These tooth fungi seem to
be in decline nationally and several species
may be included in the forthcoming county
Red Data List.
Hygrocybe miniata, a species of wax-cap,
another genus of fungi that is of great
conservation interest, was seen in the grazed
area of Long Running heath for the first time.
It could be that the grazing has improved
conditions for this diminutive orange fungus
(see paper in the Conservation & Management
section of this journal for more details on the
results of grazing at Long Running).
More generally, in the spring there were lots
of St. George's mushrooms (Calocybe
gambosum) with the first recorded this
decade, appropriately enough, on April 23rd,
St. Georges Day. Autumn also brought a good
crop of fungi with exceptionally good
showings of clouded agaric (Clitocybe
nebularis) in the secondary woodland and of
black helvella (Helvella lacunosa) alongside
the rides tmder the beeches.
Higher Plants
From Epping Forest the most heartening
discovery of 1998 was lousewort {Pedicularis
sylvatica) on Almshouse Plain, by Amanda
Samuels. Lousewort had last been seen in the
Forest in the late 1980s at Almshouse Plain,
but it seemed to have gone extinct under a
thick covering of birch and aspen invasion. By
1990 there was only one population left in
Essex at Danbury Common. However,
following turf-stripping it reappeared at
Hainault Forest in 1993, only to disappear
again the following year.
Work on clearing the birch and aspen in
Epping Forest began in 1993/94 and the area
was subsequently mown twice a year with the
cuttings being removed each time. The wet
springs may well have helped. Judging by the
number of plants in flower in 1998, seeds must
have germinated in 1997 at least but been
overlooked despite the annual check of this
location. The number of plants in Epping
Forest is now large and spread over an area of
at least 50 x 50 metres. Lousewort's
reappearance demonstrates what can be done
to recover our county's grasslands and heaths
from their tree-covered decline, and the
Epping Forest grassland gang deserve
congratulations for their efforts and
persistence.
Further good news was the discovery by
Andrew Middleton of a large colony of
adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum) on
a site newly-acquired by the Corporation of
London at Fcrnhills. This plant went extinct in
the main body of the Forest in the 1980s
(although two plants have subsequently been
re-discovered in early 1999) and the find was
a new site for the species in the county as well
as the Forest. Over 200 individual plants were
counted in 1998. The site, having been
neglected for many years and becoming
overgrown by thorn, is now being grazed
again.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 16(1999)