ESSEX   BOTANY   AND   MYCOLOGY  GROUPS 

The Distribution and Status of Crested Cow-wheat, Melampyrum cristatum L. in Essex.

                                                                                         KEN ADAMS

                                                                                63 Wroths Path, Baldwins Hill, Loughton IG10 1SH

                                                                                              Essex Naturalist 2009. 26: 154-159.

Abstract

This attractive plant is now critically endangered in Essex. The newly adopted practices of flailing arable field margins and ditches prior to harvest by farmers, together with the flailing of all byways and the 1m ‘safety’ strips along every road verge in June-July-August by County Highways, now preventing this annual from setting seed for the following year. Furthermore, the enrichment of many former verge sites caused by the rotting and mulching of the summer cuttings over the last few years has resulted in rank vegetation in which the Cow-wheat is unable to compete. Unless new sites can be created for it away from these intensive regimes, at the current rate of extinction it is unlikely to survive in Essex for more than 4-5 years, other than on one or two special wildlife site road verges. In 2009, colonies were found in only 12 separate locations.

                                                                                                               Introduction.

 In the last Essex Naturalist (Vol:25. 120-127. 2008.) an attempt was made to assess the past and present distribution of this attractive annual nationally, revealing a drastic recent decline, with  the bulk of the UK population now residing in Essex. As a result, the BSBI called for a detailed appraisal of all sites from which it has ever been recorded in the UK, over the 2009 season. In Essex we had already instigated a search over the 2008 season, and from May to September in 2008 and 2009, all reasonably localized sites in north-west Essex (Vc19) were searched by Ken Adams, Ken Rivett, Tony Morton and Sue Birnage. The only areas not visited, were: the parish of Manuden (vague record from 1952); Old Hall Wood, Steeple Bumpstead (693,395) Franklyn Perring (record from 1970); Rickling (vague record from 1929); somewhere between Hadstock and Ashdon, (1937); Saffron Walden, Rev. A. Beddow (vague record from 1984); and the Icknield Way (record from 1972). All extant sites located have been mapped onto Google Earth aerial photographs, and in the case of small populations all plants have been counted. Crested Cow-wheat plants are very brittle, and any attempt to separate them for counting can result in snapping them off, so in dense patches their extent was simply measured in metres. Individual plants can extend to 30-40cm across and are often inter-twined with adjoining plants. As the seeds are so heavy they tend to drop in clusters and very often several plants are separately rooted within a few centimetres of each other.

                                                                                                           Inventory of Sites

Taking the sites in standard 10km square order from west to east and south to north:

It was reported vaguely for Manuden at the edge of a cornfield in 1952, by the Bishop’s Stortford NHS, most probably in square 49,27 but there have been no reported sightings since. 

The chalk byway from Lt. Chishill church north to Gt. Chishill where it was found in 1974 at 419,374 was searched to no avail. It is now extensively used by horses, motorbikes and mountain bikes which churn the track into a quagmire, and the edges are being encroached by scrub. The edges of adjoining arable fields were also searched. In the first uphill section of the track, however, there were numerous plants of Nettle-leaved Bellflower, Campanula trachelium on the steep banks, and Anthemis cotula was found in an arable field just to the west. Despite the level of disturbance, there are several places that seem to have suitable habitat, so it will be worth having a repeated search in later years.

A new site was discovered by Dominique Wallace and Ken Rivett in 2008 in a conifer plantation (425,344) in Langley, just north-west of Scales Park, and in 2009 we estimated the population at around 50 plants.

Figure 1.  The past and present distribution of localized recorded sites for Melampyrum cristatum in north-west Essex Vc19. Red dots, 2008-2009; blue dots, colonies that we failed to refind; blue-stars, vague old records. [as parish boundaries change with time those shown are as defined for botanical recording for the Flora of Essex, 1974.]

At Langley Lower Green, two patches extending over 16m and 7m and totalling 60-80 plants were found on the east verge at the northern end of the Special Verge UTT3 (433,349) and a 1m dense patch plus two isolated plants were found on the opposite side of the hedge on the edge of the arable field to the east. Further north, two plants were refound at the edge of an arable field just east of Killems Green (435,358), but the colony in a deep ditch still further east (436,358), found in 2004, was absent in 2009, the ditch now being overgrown. 

Travelling north along Chrishall Common track, quite a large colony was refound in 2009 on the southern edge of the second east-west hedge north of Killems Green (originally found by Shirley Watsin in 1984). The plants extended over a 46m stretch with at least 100 individuals (435,366). Several nearby arable margins were searched but proved negative. Further plants of Campanula trachelium were however located on the western edge of the strip of woodland stretching north from the eastern remnant of Roughway Wood. 

Arable field margins, east of Great Chishill, just south of Barnard’s Wood were searched, but the colonies reported in 1970 (Graham Easy 435,385) and 1979 (S. R. Payne 436,384) could not be refound, although several spots looked suitable. 

The largest colony now found in the U.K. is spread out along some 700m on Special Road Verges UTT4 north from (Duddenhoe) Grange Farm, in what is now Langley (formerly Wenden Lofts) to the bend on the south east corner of High Wood, where it is mainly on the east verge (in Elmdon) as a 1-2m wide band (450,356-7-8), but also extensively on the west verge (Langley), and along a narrow margin of the arable field to the east on the opposite side of the hedge. The colony then extends eastwards further into Elmdon, almost continuously from the corner by High Wood to the next corner (451,358-9), mainly along the south verge, but also patchily along the north verge. (It formerly occurred northwards from the second corner along the east verge in the early 1970s). It also occurs in an almost continuous band along the edge of the arable field immediately south of this section of the road, and there is even a small patch on the southern margin of the arable field to the north of the road. The plants are so densely inter-twined that it is impossible to count them accurately but there are clearly several thousand of them. The colony on the east verge formerly occurred as far south as opposite Grange farm (449,354) but this area is now regularly flailed, and on the west side it extended south to the farm buildings. It also occurred extensively eastwards along Lorking’s Lane all the way to Beard’s Lane (1970s), but this is now a byway – a doomsday designation for Crested Cow-wheat.  This large Langley-Elmdon colony benefitted in 2009 from an early verge cut, with no further cutting over the summer, and produced the best response in living memory. 

Moving north in grid order the next site was that found by Stanley Jermyn 1966-68, ‘scarce, scrub near Park Wood, Chrishall’ (43,38-9?). The area where I think he found it is now overgrown. Arable field margins nearby were searched but nothing turned up. 

The only records we have for Clavering were both located along the lane on the Clavering-Arksden boundary from Ackrill to Clavering Farm. John Fielding found a patch in 1984 on the NE side of the lane at 467,332 and at c.465,338 roughly halfway to the farm. In recent years the verges of this lane have been kept flailed almost continuously, and visits in 2003 and 2009 yielded nothing. 

About 1km further north, several patches were found in St. Stephen’s Lane, Arkesden, by Ruth Comfort in 1984, and I visited the site myself (472,349). This lane is now mainly overtopped by high hedges, and field margins and open ditches in the vicinity are now flailed at harvest time. Furthermore, this lane is a byway and is therefore now flailed by County Highways in the summer months. 

Two kilometres further north colonies are still extant along the section of road from Cooper’s End Special Verge UTT5 to Bridge Green (464,362-3-4), with two dense patches on the east side at the southern end and scattered plants further north, in 2009. But no sign of plants on the west verge where it occurred in 2003 (Tony Morton), this side now being rank with smothering vegetation. 

A further colony some 2km to the south-east, at the southern end of Long Lane, Newland End (481,355-6) drew a blank in 2009. The verge on the east side corner looked suitable, but that on the west had been damaged by excavation of the ditch. Further north along the lane the hedge has grown out over the verge on both sides. 

We now jump across the Cam valley to Saffron Walden, where there was a record from 53,38* in 1984, (Rev. A Beddow), which would place it on the Audley End estate – no further details. Sue Birnage found a colony in 2004 and 2005 spread over 30m on the east side of Shire Hall Lane c.100m north of its junction with the byway (552,376). By 2009 this had shrunk to c.6m. I found a total of 11 plants at the site, which is being enveloped by scrub. 

The next colony on our record is that on the steeply sloping north bank of the road skirting the southern margin of Whitehill Wood, Saffron Walden. The steep winding road involved is extremely dangerous to walk along, but the bank was successfully mapped in 2009. I estimate that there are at least a thousand plants on this bank ranging from 55845,39187 to 55953,39221 with around 15 plants on the opposite bank. Both banks are 2-3m deep. Because the banks are so steep and uneven they are difficult to flail, and the Cow-wheat plants seem to survive occasional flailing in the flowering season. This site at Special Verge UTT23 is possibly the second largest in the UK, although Cambridgeshire may just beat us with one site supporting an estimated 1,800 plants this year. 

In 1969 I found a patch along a ride in Walden Wood (Hills Wood), then recently cleared for conifer planting by the Forestry Commission. This wood is now under private ownership, and densely treed, with all the rides overgrown.  

Again taking sites in grid square order, a colony found by Joan Mummery along a verge to the south of Debden Airfield (Carver Barracks) (575-6,350) in 1971 has been flailed so extensively that the vegetation is now rank with weedy species, and I drew a blank in 2009. 

Just to the south-east of the former Hills Wood site, there is a small colony on a narrow Special Verge UTT53 (572,389) on the west side of Redgates Lane, Seward’s End. This site is on its way out with only 16 plants in 2009, the hedge having grown up high shading it out, and with some scrub encroachment through suckering. David Corke, who owns part of the hedge, has cut it lower to encourage the Cow-wheat back. In the grass field on the other (western) side of the hedge a dense 20m patch occurred up against the hedge in 2003. In 2009 however only three plants were found here, sheep having grazed most of the vegetation up to the hedge. 

Further north a colony formerly occurred (1968 and 1969) on the north verge of Ashdon Road to the north of Hales Wood, but repeated flailing plus more recently, scrub encroachment, has eliminated it. It also occurred along the edge of the arable field to the north of Hales Wood, and was thought to have gone, - however in 2009 I was able to refind it as a dense patch 16 paces long, at (570,405). We are going to experiment with clearing an embayed section of the verge opposite this colony in autumn 2009 to see if we can regenerate the original verge colony. 

Further east, a colony in Little Hales Wood has been known since at least 1968 and Stanley Jermyn showed it to me in 1969 in a cleared area in the south-west extension of the wood. A few metres away in the track on the western margin of the wood a colony still survives however, apparently parasitizing bramble, and I estimated 50-60 plants there in a well lit section of ride in 2009 (577,404). 

Further north still, a substantial colony become established along the edge of the disused railway track just north of Shadwell Wood. In 2009 some 15 plants were found along the stretch west from the old station platform on the south side, which is getting overgrown, - but a more extensive colony on the north side further west between the gate at the north-east corner of Shadwell Wood and the bend in bridleway, extending for some 40m in 2003, had only a few plants this year. Further west along the old railway, the banks have been extensively gouged and the surface churned up by motor bike scrambling. 

Moving well to the south, our final recent colony found on the western edge of a byway just north of Gallows Wood (632,273) ‘c. 40 plants on a grassy bridleway crossing an open field’ by Graham Smith in 1989, has now been metalled over with recycled road tailings, replete with a row of cat’s eyes! 

Conclusions

 Judging from the wide scattering of sites outside the Langley-Elmdon and Saffron Walden-Ashdon areas there could well be colonies along arable field margins away from public access routes elsewhere that have not yet been discovered. To try and find these we are producing a pamphlet about the plant to distribute widely in north-west Essex in 2010. The widespread practice of arable margin flailing however seems likely to eliminate any of those still surviving over the next few years. What is not known is just how long the seed can remain dormant and viable– although it is at least two years – it may be longer. My observations in respect of Little Hales Wood in Essex Naturalist 25. p.123, are now in doubt, as it seems likely that the colony in the western ride has been there all the time. One of the greatest barriers to re-establishment or recovery on road verges is the change in vegetation induced by flailing and the mulching effects of material left on the verges, resulting in enrichment and domination by tall weedy species. More funding is required to enable the cuttings to be removed by County Highways. On the drier verges repeated flailing selectively promotes dense cover of Tall Fescue Festuca arundinacea which appears unsuitable as a host or congenitor. In 2009 Crested Cow-wheat plants started to flower in May and did not drop their final seeds until the third week in September, still being in flower in early September. For maximum regeneration we therefore need to ensure that colonies are not cut over during this period, but that they are cut in the autumn to reduce the thatch and control scrub and rank species – ideally no earlier than October, or in the spring before the beginning of April when the plants first appear.

 Crested Cow-wheat is traditionally a plant of woodland rides, and is recorded as formerly being abundant along rides in Little Hales Wood following coppicing. I suggest therefore that an attempt be made to open up the main east-west ride in the wood and see if regeneration occurs, and if not, try reseeding from the Whitehill Wood verge population. In addition we could try re-establishment along rides in Hales Wood and Shadwell Wood. We also hope to be able to negotiate cutting back of the hedges along the north side of the old railway track by Shadwell Wood and Shire Hall Lane. Melampyrum cristatum was listed in the Vulnerable category in the Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain, 2005 and has been included on the 2008 revised U.K. National Biodiversity Action Plan list for ‘priority conservation activity’, and the following preliminary actions adopted for it:  ‘Improve habitat condition at existing and recently extinct sites through roadside verge, hedgerow and woodland edge management focused on creating more open conditions (verge cutting, tree and shrub removal, coppicing). Create new areas of managed roadside verge, field hedgebanks and woodland edges at appropriate sites to encourage enlargement of populations. Ensure accession of material to ex situ collections and if necessary carry out bulking out exercises as well as reintroduction to historic sites. Also undertake research to determine seed longevity in the wild, response to disturbance, autecology and processes for dispersal.’ 

However despite my attempts over the years to get it adopted, including the production of a draft BAP, it has not yet been officially adopted as an Essex LBAP species. 

* this grid reference may simply be a vague one for Saffron Walden. 

Notes: The detailed Google Earth maps for the extant sites in Essex, and a text file of all known records past and present can be viewed via the BSBI website link:  wwwbsbi.org.uk > recorders > 18,19 Essex > 3^rd Flora of Essex >M. 

Acknowledgements 

This account would have been impossible but for the numerous records supplied to me over the years by botanists in Essex and others visiting the county. I am also indebted to Nicola Hutchinson of Plantlife and David Pearman BSBI for the latest information on its UKBAP status.