Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

orbus aucuparia. Rowan, Mountain ash, Ouickbeam.Common on the Forest IHall 1980).We have recorded it in virtually every square where it occurs in woodland and onwoodland edges, by roads and rarely in hedges. It grows on most soils except where waterlogged.1995 was a very good year for fruit, many trees groaning under their weight at the endof July. The berries ripened red by the middle of August, and most were still on the trees inthe autumn. The seeds have a winter-chilling requirement so germinate mainly in the spring.The seedlings are very shade-tolerant but are quite palatable, so trees tend to be rare in grazedwoods such as around Pippingford Park.First reported in the Weald in 1597 and oddly suggested not to be native in Kent, though we in Sussex have nositation in accepting it. It is widespread in the Weald, especially on acidic soils, less common on the clays (Hall 1980),d in most of Britain except the Midland agricultural belt. It is widespread in Europe, north Asia Minor and the Moroccanountains.Sorbus intermedia. Swedish whitebeam.One tree by lane, Isle of Thorns 1417.307), 1995, TR & PA, not obviouslY planted.Not recorded as established in Sussex (Hall 1980). Scattered in Britain and increasingprobably as an escape from cultivation (Rich & Woodruff 1996). It is native in countriesaround the Baltic.1070 Sorbus aria. Common whitebeam.Old Lodge in plantation, 1987, MR, probably not the same tree that was seen growing on theboundary of Old Lodge in 1987, PW - neither has been refound and the latter was believed tohave been lost in a fire.Millbrook Hill, in middle of wet heath on slight mound by slit trenches 1442.296), 1995• and before, OK - the tree has many stems and may have been coppiced during BTCV work;one tree 4 metres tall c. 100 metres west of old airstrip 1424.308), 1995, MR, CM; planted inHindleap Warren Ic. 414.326), 1994, TR; one tree by path at Chelwood Gate 1411.300),1995, TR & PA. It is not native on the Forest and is probably bird-sown from the Isle ofThorns where it is planted, the trees differing in leaf shape from native West Sussex plants.Sorbus aria has an interesting distribution in Britain, being native on the chalk and limestone in southern Britain. Itnay also be native on the acidic Lower Greensand soils in the western Weald where there is a constant, smaller-leavedorm which is quite widespread. It is found throughout Europe.'Sorbus cuspidata. Large-leaved whitebeam.One small tree with its very distinctive large leaves under birch tree by path at Chelwood Gate1410.300), TR & PA, 1995; this appears to be bird-sown, but it is usually planted.iorbus torminalis. Wild service-tree, Chequer tree, Chequers.lecorded from the south-east edge of the Forest in tetrad 42T IHall 1980), but not yet refound. Recently planted in'ippingford Park by A. Morriss.This species has been studied in detail in Britain by Roper (1993). The tree is a useful indicator of ancient woodlandnd hedges, and shows a marked preference for two types of soil: those derived from clays and those derived from hardermestones. In the Weald there is a strong concentration in the area north-west of Romney Marsh between Ashford and:obertsbridge, spreading west more thinly to Ashdown Forest. In this area the trees grow on the Weald Clay, andVadhurst and Guestling Clays of the Hastings Beds, but they are almost entirely absent from the Gault Clays and theIshdown Sands.It has long associations with man in the Weald, and may have been widely planted. The fruits, known as chequers,le re eaten within living memory but they are bitty, do not taste very nice and need to be bletted. They were also used to1ake a cider-like drink hence the name is associated with public houses such as Chequers Hotel in Forest Row and~aresfield. It occurs in Europe, Asia Minor and Algeria.