The woodland flora of the Forest of Writtle and surrounding area
Pendulous Sedge Carex pendula: Common in all manner of damp and shady habitats; recorded from
every wood in the survey area.
Wood Sedge Carex sylvatica: A fairly common and widespread woodland sedge throughout the area
but seems to be scarce on the more acidic soils. Recorded from Barrow Wood, Coppice and Birch
Springs, Hockley Shaw, Park Ponds Spring, The Moors, The Grove, Bushy Wood, King Wood, South
Wood, The Moors (Cooksmill Green), Skreens Wood and Horsfrith.
Glaucous Sedge Carex flacca: Common and widespread in damp grassy habitats on neutral to chalky
soils throughout the area but as a woodland plant it is confined to King Wood, The Hyde Lake, Hylands
Park, The Moors (Cooksmill Green), Skreens and Nightingale Woods.
Carnation Sedge Carex panicea: The only record of this scarce sedge concerns a single clump in a
damp wooded area alongside Skreens Park Boating Lake (TL630076) in 1999.
Green-ribbed Sedge Carex binervis: Recorded from the heather-grassland al Mill Green Common,
where the three plants found in 1994 had increased to ten by 2001.
Yellow Sedge Carex viridula ssp. oedocarpa: Very scarce. The only records concern several plants in
cleared areas of damp heather-grassland at Mill Green Common in 1998 (and subsequently), a few in a
nearby coppiced area of Stoneymore Wood in 1999 and two, the same year, alongside an overgrown
footpath in Barrow Wood. Has probably suffered a decline because the woods in this area are far drier
than in the past.
Pill Sedge Carex pilulifera: A sedge of acidic soils that has greatly benefited from the increase in
coppicing in recent years and has been recorded in good numbers from such areas in Great Edney,
Barrow, Deerslade and Stoneymore Woods, Mill Green Common, Birch and Parson's Springs, College
and Fryerning Woods and The Writtle Belt. It is particularly common in damp heather-grassland at Mill
Green.
Common Sedge Carex nigra: Supposedly the commonest and most widespread sedge in the country
but not in this area. Recorded in Jermyn from the banks of the River Wid at Writtle but the only
subsequent record concerns a few plants growing with C. flacca in wet grassland alongside Tower Belt,
Hylands Park in 1999.
Poaceae Grass Family
Mat Grass Nardus stricta: Recorded in Jermyn from Mill Green but could not be re-found during the
present survey. Possibly overlooked if only present in small quantity.
Wood Millet Milium effusum: This tall and handsome grass appears to be confined to neutral or acidic
soils in the area and has been recorded in moderate quantity from Great Edney Wood,, Edney and Mill
Green Commons, The Mores, Box Wood, King Wood, Southwood, The Hyde Lake and The Grove.
Giant Fescue Festuca gigantea: Fairly common and widespread in damp and shady habitats throughout
the area but recorded as a woodland plant only in King and South Woods, Wren Grove, Cooley Spring
and The Grove.
Sheep's Fescue Festuca ovina: Surprisingly, the only record oflhis species in the survey area concerns
a single clump in Fryerning Churchyard in June 1998 and that was only found because a parish council
dispute with the gardening contractors resulted in the grass remaining uncut for many weeks! Possibly
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)