Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

106*Prunus /aurocerasus. Cherry laurel.Given the number of records for the Forest in our map, it is surprisingly under~recorded in Hall(1980) possibly because such an obvious garden escape was ignored.It is often planted near houses but now well-established and spreading, with largergroves nearer houses and small plants in the middle of nowhere. The crushed leaves producecyanide as a metabolic intermediate, which is still used by entomologists to kill specimens; thekernel-like flavour was also once widely used for culinary purposes and was widely used forflavouring puddings and custards, or mixed with brandy sometimes with predictableconsequences. Nowadays it is planted more for screening.Fruits are produced abundantly and are spread widely, presumably by birds but perhapsalso by deer which may eat fallen fruit (some stones have been seen in deer droppings). The sweet sickly scent of thecandelabras of white flowers in April is quite noticeable. It casts a dense evergreen shade which suppresses all othergrowth underneath it. It is a growing threat to the Forest and may become a worse problem than rhododendron as itseems to be quite resistant to herbicides. Like rhododendron it comes from Turkey and south-west Asia and is spreading inBritain. It seems to appreciate our climate and grows rapidly; you could say laurel is hardy!*Pyrus pyraster. Wild pear.A275 verge, Chelwood Gate (416.3061, first seen 1977 Trudy Side & PW, still present 1988,PW, DB but not seen 1993 onwards despite several searches.An introduced tree possibly an escape or relict of cultivation. Scattered through lowlandBritain. Native in Europe.Malus aggregate. Apples.Common on the Forest (Hall 19801.The distinction between our cultivated and native wild apples is not clear, and we may not have recorded themconsistently. Cultivated apples are usually distinct in having hairy leaves, pedicels and calyces; such plants can often befound near houses and on the urban edges and roadsides. Plants in older areas of woodland, often with thorns, glabrousleaves and calyces have been recorded as crab apples (M. sy!vestris), but they often have hairy pedicels and very sparselyhairy leaves which according to Stace (1991) suggests that these also be called M. domestica. Perring (1968) suggeststhat the original native woodland trees were glabrous and have since become introgressed with genes from cultivatedapples.Malus sy/vestris. Crab apple.It is widely recorded on the Forest but not in the acidic podzol areas, and prefers the clayeyand richer soils. In April and May, the lovely pinkish-white flowers make trees stand out inopen woodland and on wood edges. In 1995 the apple crop was superb, the groundunderneath many trees being littered with fallen fruit. Roasted crabs were once a favouriteautumn pudding, and windfalls are still collected on a small scale to make crab apple jelly.Crabtree Farm is near Camp Hill.Widespread in lowland Britain, Europe and south-west Asia.*Malus domestica. Apple.The distribution is strongly related to roads and habitation, if the former, almost always withinan apple core's throw from the road. Other plants are found near habitation where they maybe bird-sown or from discarded fruit. Self-sown plants usually have small, yellowish sourfruits (Stace 19911.Forge apples are a local variety reputed to have arisen when a blacksmith near EastGrinstead made some cider. He discarded the pulp by his forge, and a few seeds grew toproduce a new apple (Wickens 1948), We do not know if they survive.Deer cause a lot of damage to apple trees in orchards. Two ancient Sussex customs toget trees to bear fruit well were apple howling (where small boys howled around the tree atNew Year) and 'christening' the trees on St Swithin's Day (AFN 14: 21-22), but sadly neither seems to be practised thesedays.Widespread in lowland Britain. It originated in cultivation, and now over a thousand cultivars are known.