The woodland flora of the Forest of Writtle and surrounding area
to Jermyn, is its preferred habitat in Essex.
Fine-leaved Water-dropwort Oenanthe aquatica: Recorded from a small pond in Barrow Wood but
in recent years is usually eaten by deer before it can flower and set seed. Still fairly common and
widespread in farmland ponds in the area as a whole.
Wild Angelica Angelica sylvestris: Common and widespread - albeit in fairly small quantity - in damp
shady areas in woodlands throughout the survey area. Also locally plentiful but declining in farmland
ditches and similar non-woodland habitats.
Solanaceae Nightshade Family
Deadly Nightshade Atropa belladonna: Recorded in Jermyn from the Blackmore-Fryerning area but
I have been unable to re-find it during the present survey.
Bittersweet Solanum dulcamara: Common and widespread in damp shady areas of woodlands
throughout the survey area.
Boraginaceae Borage Family
Common Fiddleneck Amsinckia micrantha: Recorded from a chalky spoil heap in Great Edney Wood
in 1999. Not really a woodland plant but recorded here as there appear to be no other records from
TL60.
Tufted Forget-me-not Myosotis laxa: Widely distributed in wet habitats in woods throughout the
survey area but always in small quantity. Recorded from Mill Green and Edney Commons, Park Ponds
Spring, Barrow Wood, Coppice Wood, The Mores, College Wood, The Grove, Horsfrith, The Moors
(Cooksmill Green) and Nightingale Wood.
Wood Forget-me-not Myosotis sylvatica: A refugee from gardens that has been recorded from roadside
verges at Barrow Wood, Elmfield Farm Copse, Skreens Park Wood and both Mill Green and Edney
Commons.
Lamiaceae Dead-nettle Family
Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon: The native subspecies, ssp. montanum, appears to be in
slow decline, probably due to the lack of regular coppicing. It is still widely distributed throughout the
survey area, though, and has been recorded from Great Edney set-aside field, Edney Common, Writtle
Park Wood, Hockley Shaw, Park Ponds Spring, College Wood, Fryerning Wood, The Grove, Bushy
Wood and Horsfrith. In contrast, the more aggressive garden variety, ssp. argentatum, is becoming
increasingly common in a variety of habitats at Ingatestone and Fryerning and has achieved abundance
in Elmfield Farm Copse and on Mill Green Common. It has also been recorded from Skreens Park
Wood.
Lesser Skullcap Scutellaria minor. Another species recorded from Ingatestone and Fryerning by Robert
West's pupils at the end of the nineteenth century but which has eluded rediscovery during the present
survey. A rare plant in Essex nowadays.
Wood Sage Teucrium scorodonia: A fairly common and widespread plant of hedgerows and woodland
margins on neutral to acidic soils throughout the area. It seems to be a good indicator of ancient woodland
or hedge-banks and as yet does not appear to have colonised any post-1600 woods in the area. Recorded
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)
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