The woodland flora of the Forest of Writtle and surrounding area
been.
Rowan Sorbus aucuparia; Widespread and fairly common - albeit in small quantity - in woodlands
throughout the survey area. Many arc undoubtedly bird-sown and nearly all arc feeble, spindly trees,
forced to struggle for their share of light beneath the closed canopy of neglected woodlands.
Wild Service-tree Sorbus torminalis: More of a hedgerow than a woodland tree in this area and
seemingly confined to neutral to acidic soils. Apart from a couple in Barrow Wood it is not found in any
of the area's ancient woodlands - although it would be very easy to overlook the occasional tree -
records being confined to The Hyde Lake, The Grove and a few small plantations in Hylands Park. A
survey of one hundred randomly selected hedgerows in Ingatestone and Fryerning parish found it to be
present in twenty per cent of them, a total of eighty-seven trees being counted, mostly coppice or
mature suckers but including a fine old pollard at Handley Barns Farm.
Midland Hawthorn Crataegus laevigata: Despite frequent examination of the many hawthorns that
occur on the margins of most of the area's woodlands T have found pure-bred laevigata at only two
sites, namely, Barrow Wood - four adolescent trees on the banks of a small pond in June 2000, and
Horsfrith - three trees in May 2002. Mark Hanson has also found it at Hylands Park. Many trees that
appear to be this species turn out, on closer inspection, to be hybrids with Hawthorn C. monogyna and
although it is difficult to believe that these three records (plus a single bush in Fryerning Churchyard)
are a true reflection of the species' status in the area it is undoubtedly very scarce.
Fabaceae Pea Family
Bush Vetch Vicia sepium: Widespread in small quantity in shady hedgerows, scrub and on woodland
margins throughout the survey area.
Bitter Vetch Lathyrus linifolius: Recorded in Jermyn from Skreens Park Wood but could not be re-
found during the present survey. A rare plant in Essex.
Broom Cytisus scoparius: Fairly common in hedgerows, occasional on woodland margins, on neutral
to acidic soils throughout the area. Probably declining.
Dyer's Greenweed Genista tinctoria: Recorded in Gibson from Writtle and Roxwell and in Jermyn
from Ingatestone and Fryerning parishes but despite frequent searches it could not be re-found during
the present survey. Another species that is in sharp decline in Essex.
Gorse Ulex europaeus; Common in hedgerows, scrub and on woodland margins on neutral to acidic
soils throughout the survey area but seldom found in any great quantity nowadays apart from Mill
Green Common.
Lythraceae Purple-loosestrife Family
Water Purslane Lythrum portula; Recorded in Jermyn from Ingatestone, Fryerning and Blackmore.
Following the removal of large numbers of mature Oaks from College Wood in 1989-90 it was
subsequently found in considerable quantity in the muddy, water filled ruts left in their wake. A more
thorough search in 2001 revealed that it was widely distributed in this wood and also produced records
from nearby Barrow and Fryerning Woods. A scarce species in Essex.
Thymelaeaceae Mezereon Family
Spurge-laurel Daphne laureola: A sombre, shade loving plant of calcareous or clayey soils that was
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)