The woodland flora of the Forest of Writtle and surrounding area
ancient woodland.
Wild Daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. pseudonarcissus: Recorded in Gibson from Daffy (i.e.
Nightingale) Wood and Writtle. It is still found at both sites, the latter being the Writtle Belt at Hylands
Park. The garden cultivars, ssp. major, are abundantly naturalised throughout the area but never penetrate
far into woodland.
Poet's Narcissus Narcissus poeticus: Long naturalised in both Elmfield Farm Copse and at The Hyde
Lake.
Butcher's Broom Ruscus aculeatus: Recorded from The Hyde Lake (ten small bushes). The Mores
(two) and Great Edney Wood (one); possibly native in the last two sites.
Iridaceae Tris Family
Stinking Tris Iris foetidissima: Recorded from the Tower Belt, South Wood , where it. was present in
Gibson's day, 15-20 plants at the current time, while it was found alongside Skreens Wood in 1980 (but
not during the present survey) and a single plant was recorded from Edney Common in July 1999. The
first two may possibly be native, the latter a certain garden throw-out.
Orchidaceae Orchid Family
Violet Helleborine Epipactis purpurata: This beautiful orchid has been recorded periodically from
the Tower Belt/Lower Belt extension of South Wood since at least the 1970s although I have yet to
enjoy the good fortune to see it there. However, in July 2000 three plants appeared alongside the
footpath in Bushy Wood - a footpath which I had been using on a regular basis for twenty years without
seeing them previously! One was subsequently trampled by walkers and a second eaten by deer but the
third flowered successfully and a single plant also achieved this in both 2001 and 2002.
Broad-leaved Helleborine Epipactis helleborine: Widely distributed on neutral to acidic soils but
always in small quantity and very easy to overlook. It took me over a decade of searching before I found
my first plants but they may have been particularly scarce during the prolonged summer droughts of the
mid-1990s. Since 1998 it has been recorded from Barrow Wood - up to four on a roadside verge
(TL635025) 1998-2002; Edney Common - a single plant by the stream in 1998; King Wood - alongside
the footpath, close to the Writtle Road in 1999; The Hyde Lake - two plants in June 2000; Ellis Wood
- a single plant alongside Chalk Hill in 2001; Park Ponds Spring - a single plant in a clearing in June
2002, and Mill Green Common - four plants on a roadside verge close to The Viper in 2002. Two plants
were also found on a garden lawn at Fryerning (TL641005) in 1998.
[Green-flowered Helleborine Epipactis phyllanthes: In 1998 a single plant showing all the vegetative
characteristics of this species was found in a broad woodland ride on the edge of Ellis Wood, close to
Chalk Hill track (TL642032). It flowered Ihat year but was eaten by deer before it set seed and Ihat was
also the fate that befell it the following summer. It has not been seen since. There have been a number
of claimed sightings of this highly variable species elsewhere in Essex in recent years, none of which
(as far as I am aware) have been confirmed and this record too awaits verification. ]
Bird's-nest Orchid Neottia nidus-avis: In 1994 eight spikes of this species were found in a recently
cleared area alongside a stream in Ellis Wood (TL639027). Three appeared the following summer and
two in 1996 but it has not been recorded since. Also recorded from Hylands Park but no details are
forthcoming at present.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)
217