interesting, therefore, to look back at the records of some
of the plants and to compare these with their present status.
The man orchid (Aceras anthropophorum) was discovered in
Grays Chalk Quarry in 1949 by members of the Essex Field
Club. At that time it was fairly widespread throughout the
Quarry, but subsequent dumping of overburden from an adjacent
pit resulted in the formation of just two colonies, one in
the north and one in the south. Records show that the
northern colony was once the larger of the two, with up to
60 plants in a good year, compared with 25 in the south.
In 1980, however, the numbers appearing were only 17 in the
northern colony compared with 66 in the south. It must be
remembered that orchid seeds are extremely small and it may
take several years for a seed to develop into a flowering
plant. This results in a fluctuating colony size depending
on the success of plants setting seed in any given year.
The man orchid, however, is essentially a plant of open
grassland and the encroachment of vegetation is the probable
reason for its decline in the northern colony.
The marsh helleborine (Epipactis palustris) was found in the
Quarry in 1964 by Don Hunford. At that time there were only
a few plants but numbers in the colony have fluctuated
dramatically. In 1968 up to 40 plants were found, but two
years later, following a very wet spring, no plants appeared.
It is known that the plant can exist for some time purely as
a vegetative rhizome if adverse conditions prevail. This
was indeed the case, for a few plants appeared in 1971 and
the following year a new colony of 20 plants was found some
distance from the original colony. The species is currently
restricted to this new site and although several leafy shoots
appeared, no flowering spikes were seen in 1980.
The most successful plant in Grays Chalk Quarry is undoubtedly
the round-leaved Wintergreen (Pyrola rotundifolia). This
rare and attractive plant was first discovered in the Quarry
in 1948 and was the first Essex record. Today it is almost
impossible to walk any distance from a path in the lake end
without stepping on one! It is also spreading south and
can even be found in the area of open grassland. In 1965
it was found growing in nearby Warren Pit.
66