TQ(51)89 876,969
TQ(51)98 953,891
TL(52)90 93 ,05+
92 ,03+
97 ,09+
TL(52)91 98,12+
958,120
96,12}
97,11}
97,12]
97,13}
98,11}
98,12}
99,11}
TM(62)01 03,12
The Scarce Plants of Essex. Part 2. if
Purleigh, Hyde Marsh, many plants margins of brackish marsh. 5 August
1997. Graham Smith [site now flooded].
Barling Magna, Fleet Head, frequent, dried margins of borrow dyke,
29 September 1997. Tim Pyner.
Stansgate Abbey, 1947. Francis Rose.
Mayland Creek area, Eric Saunders, date ? (Jermyn 1974).
Tollesbury Marshes, Stanley T Jermyn, date? (Jermyn 1974J.
Tollesbury, Old Hall Marshes NR, recorded at 7 stations, 1990. NCC
Grazing Marshes Survey.
Old Hall Marshes, muddy patch, just below seaward side of wall,
1992, Ursula Broughton & Brian Wright.
Old Hall Marshes, widespread and occasional to
abundant across these squares, dried up marshy areas,
dykes and pond margins, see Tarpey 1999 for detailed survey.
Old decoy pond cast (west?) of East Mersea, J E Lousley, date?
(Jermyn 1974). [old decoy pond shown on old 1:25000 maps].
Pre 1930 records:
TQ(51)78/88
TQ(51)98
TQ(51)89/99
TQ(51)99/
TR(61)09
TM(62)00
Canvey Island, Edward Forster (Gibson 1862).
South Shoebury Common, 1814 & 1849, Edward Forster. Hcrb.BM.
New England, Christopher Parsons (Gibson 1860) [R. Roach Estuary]
Foulness Island, Horatio Piggott (Gibson 1862).
Mersea Island, 1849. Edward Forster, Herb.BM.
Clinopodium calamintha (L.) Stace (Calamintha nepeta)
Lesser Calamint
Lesser Calamint is a short-lived perennial, largely now confined to south east England, with the bulk
of the population occurring in Essex and southern Suffolk, with a few scattered sites in Norfolk,
Cambs. and Kent. Unfortunately, the Essex records have in the past been hopelessly confused with
those of C. ascendens, formerly grown for use as a herbal tea, and curiously absent from most of
Essex. The confusion arose because in hindsight, the latter has been found in only a handful of sites
on the chalk in the north west of the county. Virtually all the Calamint colonies in Essex are C.
calamintha, but we were all (including Stanley Jermyn) trying to pigeon hole plants into two taxa,
because being so rare in the county we were unfamiliar with C. ascendens, yet felt sure we must be
overlooking it. Furthermore, there are forms of C. calamintha that are somewhat intermediate and
may result from introgression (Easy 1993). In general, the two can be separated by their leaves,
calyces and flowers. The leaves of C. calamintha are up to 30x26mm, rather grey-green, particularly
later in the season when they become increasingly hairy; whereas those of C. ascendens are larger,
42x35mm, lighter green, with more prominent secondary veins, and tend to be rather convex. The
degree of serration/crenation of the margins varies in both from virtually no indentation to quite
sharply serrate. The petioles are up to 25mm in G ascendens and to 15mm in C. calamintha. The
flowers of C. calamintha are whitish suffused with lilac, in closeup, with pale lilac markings in the
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)