148
The Scarce Plants of Essex. Part 2.
Bergholt on the opposite bank of the Stour in 1979, suggests that a stroll along the bank of the Stour
west of Manningtree in late May could well confirm its presence, but the original site found by Francis
Rose in 1951, and independently by Rachel Hamilton in 1967. - a flower-rich brackish pasture, is no
longer brackish, because of the new Judas Gap sluice, and is now heavily grazed. A thorough search
for it in the brackish marshes all the way from Hythe down to Wivenhoe, by Terri Tarpey and Jeremy
Heath in June 1991, also failed to refind it along the Colne estuary. Possibly, cessation of grazing along
this coastal stretch has hastened its demise.
All records:
TQ(51)67 65,75 18
TM(62)02 04,22+ 19
Tilbury Fort, 1832 WW Newbold. (Gibson 1862)
Wivenhoe. Botanical Exchange Club Report (1930) 376.
Wivenhoe. Herbarium K. 26 June 1926. G C Brown.
& Botanical Exchange Club Report 9: 321-379. Druce,
G.C. New County and other Records.
Hythe. Colchester. WL P Gamons. (Gibson 1862)
West of Manningtree, 1951. Francis Rose.
Judas Gap, nr Manningtree, brackish flower rich pasture.
1967. Rachel Hamilton.
02,23+ 19
TM(62)03 09,32 19
09,32 19
Althaea officinalis L.
Marsh mallow
Essex Status: Native, endangered
A very attractive perennial mallow of brackish ditches, banks and damp grassland on marine alluvium
near the sea, and on the upper reaches of saltings, frequently where woodland reaches down to the
shore, the plants often clustering in an arc of vegetation beneath the canopy that coincides with the
outermost roots of the trees (usually oak). A rathei" local, but often abundant plant along the south coast
of Wales and the Severn estuary, the south coast from Dorset to Kent, and north to Lincolnshire. Found
in 77 English hectads post 1970, lost from a further 40. In Essex it used to grow all along the Thames,
at East Mersea near the Strood, along the Colne estuary at Colchester, and along the Stour from
Manningtree to Harwich. Today it is confined to the Stour, where it has been recorded as small colonies
at Cattawade, just east of Nether Hall, and the largest remaining colony off the eastern flank of Copperas
point. Its apparent association with shore-side woodland is probably due to its protection from disturbance
in this habitat. At Nether Hall intensive grazing has recently been extended down onto the saltings, thus
destroying some of the intermediate brackish habitats. In contrast, with the acquisition of the Copperas
site by the RSPB, and the consequent cessation of horse riding on the saltings, during the past 10-15
years the colony there has been steadily increasing {teste Russell Leavett). In 1991 a group of students
from Otley College mapped the population off the point in detail and located 2,500 plants. They were
growing in a band up to 22m wide on patches of slightly raised sandy ground with Tripleurospermum
maritimum and Atriplex sp., just beyond the tree line, and with scattered plants along the shore line
amongst a band of fallen trees. Probably as a consequence of this large patch upstream, further small
colonies have recently begun to appear around the bay between Copperas Point and Parkeston.
Post 1930 Records:
TM(62)01 ??? 19 Brightlingsea Marshes, 1931 George C Brown. (Jermyn, 1974).
TM(62)03 092,334 19 Lawford, Catterwade, on the Essex side ofthe Stour, c.50
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)