The lure for visiting Staffhurst Wood was reading its SSSI specification which says: The old oak trees support a rich lichen flora including Pertusaria coccodes, P. hemisphaerica and Cetraria glauca which is usually found in western Britain. See: Nature England 1001768.pdf. I found neither of these three lichens, nor did I think the Oaks supported a rich lichen flora, probably because the wood is dense and thus has insufficient light for a rich lichen flora. Lichens need light as their energy comes from photosynthesised carbon from their algal/cyanobacterial photobiont. However there were some interesting common lichens, and visiting the wood was a wonderful experience because the autumn colours of its trees was spectacular.
I reached Staffhurst Wood by train and walking. It is a 1hr 30 minute journey by train from Brighton to Hurst Green (service frequency: twice an hour), changing at East Croydon. I then walked via Itchingwood Common and Foyles Riding/Honesland Wood to Staffhurst Wood. It is about an hour walk from Hurst Green to Staffhurst Wood, but it took me two hours because I made a detour to Itchingwood Common and stopped a lot to look at bryophytes, lichens and trees.
Maps Crown Copyright, screen shots from the Ordnance Survey Android App
Itchingham Common detour. All of the walk was on roads with pavements and public footpaths
Through Honesland Wood to Staffhurst Wood. N.B whilst Honesland Wood is a private wood the dotted paths (not public rights of way) seemed to be open to the pubic, as there were dog walkers walking along them
At the end of my visit to Staffhurst Wood I walked from the south of the wood to Edenbridge Town station (which is on the line back to East Croydon, Edenbridge Station is not) along B & C roads. EXTREME CAUTION needs to be taken as none of these roads had pavements and there are many bends. keep to the right-hand side of the road so you can see oncoming traffic. Keep close to the side of the road ...If you come across a sharp right-hand bend it may be safer to cross to the left-hand side of the road and cross back after the bend. The Highway Code for walkers - Ramblers
Map from Ancient Woodland (England) | Natural England Open Data Geoportal showing Parishcroft Wood (on the way to Itchingwood Common), and Honesland and Staffhurst Wood are Ancient Woodland, but Itchingwood Common is not. Walking through Itchingwood Common this was obvious, as it is mostly woodland it is clearly new secondary woodland, with much Hazel Coppice. However, there are some Oak and Beach standards in the commons.
Hurst Green
Whilst Staffhurst offered the possibility of the lichens, Pertusaria coccodes, Pertusaria hemisphaerica and Cetraria glauca listed in its SSSI speciciation, the most interesting lichen spectacle I saw was walking over a footbridge over the railway line at Hurst Green, that links two social housing estates: the sheer abundance of fertile Physcia caesia on the tarmac footpath. Urban lichening, especially on concrete and tarmac, can offer some treats.
Itchingwood Common
Stunning Quercus robur, Pedunculate Oak, on the way Itchingwood Common, one of the relics of common land in Surrey; most ceased to be Commons after the Enclosures Acts. There are three competing claims over the ownership of this land.
This Oak's bark is covered in Lecanora compallens C-, K- one of the four crustose greenish lichens common on bark that are often infertile (i.e. don't have apothecia, fruiting bodies, that often look like little jam tarts or little spheres) and thus look very similar. These lichens are extremely common in Sussex, on Oak in particular. Their thalli (bodies) are covered with granulose soredia (powdery asexual vegetative reproductive propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria or green algae). They are often more or less cracked, and look greener when wet.
This is when chemical spot tests are essential to identification.
The tests:
K = 10% potassium hydroxide; 90% water; this can be bought from chemical suppliers cheaply; but is a chemical hazard, and should be washed off with water if spilled in skin
C= sodium hypochlorite; that the best source of this at the right concentration is Milton Sterilising Fluid; it goes off so needs to be replaced regularly
When you apply K, lichen thalli often turn greener, but this is not a chemical reaction it is just that many lichens are greener when wet because water make the fungal hyphae more translucent so you see more of the green alga or cyanobacterium (their photobionts, which photosynthesises energy from light for the fungi in the mutualistic symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae/ cyanobacteria that makes up lichen.
The four possibilities that this lichen could have been
Pyrrhospora quernea K-, C+ orange
Lecanora compallens K-, C-
Lecanora expellans K+ yellow, C+ yellow
Lecanora barkmaniana K+ yellow, C-.
Itchingwood is a corruption of Echenewode; the first element in the Old English [Anglo-Saxon ]ǣcen, the adjective derived from ac, 'oak.' Hence 'oak wood.' Itchingwood Common :: Survey of English Place-Names and here are some oaks, not Saxon oaks! Oak trees can live for over 1,000 years; however, a more normal age would be around 600 years. Oak tree guide: different species, how long they live and why oak trees are crucial for our ecosystem I estimate that these are about 200 years old
Only the south-east part of the common has mature Oaks, southeast of Grant's Lane now; the majority of the common, between Grant's Lane and Itchingwood Common Lane, is recent commercial coppice, mostly Hazel.
This is piece of Evernia prunastri lichen (Oak Moss) that fell of one the Oaks
Tall and lanky Quercus robur
On an Oak: Parmotrema perlatum and Metzgeria furcata. I find if fascinating how lichens and bryophytes sometimes intermesh on a tree trunk; sometimes they respect each others boundaries; sometime they grow in the same place. Parmotrema perlatum, Black Stone Flower is also Pathar Ke Phool Spice, Dagad Phool or Kalpasi of Indian cuisine.
Within the secondary coppice there are few older beeches and oaks, and there are willows in an area of wet woodland. On one of the Willows a Salix caprea, was a mosaic of lichens and bryophytes
This is probably the lichen Physconia distorta, with the liverworts Metzgeria furcata, Forked Veilwort (very common) and Myriocoleopsis minutissima, Minute Pouncewort (the word minutissima is key, Latin: the smallest) growing under the lichen and Metzgeria furcata. M. minutissima used to be considered a rare liverwort; but it is now deemed common in wet low-weald woods. I think it was probably never rare, its problem is that it is impossible to see without a high-magnification hands lens or macro camera.
Crop of he Minute Pouncewort
On this tree was also a lichen, Polished Camouflage Lichen, Melanelixia glabratula, above this mosaic
Honesland Wood
Honesland wood is listed as ancient woodland by Nature England in the Ancient & Semi-Natural Woodland category although the wood is managed for forestry, and is planted with much Sweet Chestnut
High up in a Hazel were these Usnea sp. lichens; they were too high to identify with accuracy, but they may be Usnea florida
One of the Oaks, Quercus robur, in the wood was covered in the lichen Lecanctis abietina, which is an indicator of a tree's age and is only seen in older woodland. It has numerous and evenly scattered, cylindrical, knob-like, pynidia (flask-shaped fruiting bodies that look like the tree has acne!) with white pruina (little white dots on the lobes which are calcium oxalate crystals produced by the lichen.) It can only be distinguished from Inoderma subabietinum and Opegrapha vermicellifera if its pycnidial pruina turn red with the application of sodium hypochlorite - it did.
Staffhurst Wood
The canopy is largely made up of beech and oak from the early 1900's, with other broadleaves such as hornbeam, birch, sweet chestnut and aspen present. The understorey can be sparse in places due to the closed canopy overhead, but holly, hazel, hawthorn and yew are found throughout. The northern-most 2.5 ha is a different composition entirely, being comprised of high forest oak and ash with a well-established understorey of hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, holly sweet chestnut, and hazel. Woodland Trust PublicManagementPlan Whilst the canopy is made from trees that are only ca. 120 years old, there are many individual older trees. The Woodland Trust ancient tree inventory. To search the ancient tree inventory go to the home page and enter a location: Ancient Tree Inventory - Woodland Trust It lists trees by species and age (ancient, veteran and notable) and filters can be applied if you are looking for specific species
Theses are veteran Pedunculate Oak and Beeches:
Staffhurst Wood is Stefhurst 1235, 1263, Staffhurst 1279, Stafhurst 1312 Stafherstwode 1312 , Staffyrsteswode 1418, Staffirsteswode 1430, Staffordswood 1757E . This name is a compound of OE [Old English/Anglo-Saxon] stæf, 'rod, staff' and hyrst [wood], perhaps referring to a wood which supplied material for such. Staffhurst Wood :: Survey of English Place-Names
When I entered the wood I noted this little mosaic of very common lichens, Lecanora chlarotera and Lecidella elaeochroma next to each other on an Oak, Quercus robur, as they often are.
This L. chlorotera but maybe L. hybocarpa; the two are almost identical morphologically and can't be separated by chemical tests and can only be separated by examining the crystals in their apothecia microscopically with polarized light; this is so difficult to do I don't do it! L. chlorotera is the most common of the two!
Looking again at this Lecidella eleachroma, it could be the very similar species Fuscidea lightfootii whuch has a much rougher, warted surface and is C- The thallus of L. eleachroma is C+ orange but I was a bit late in my walk plan so I didn't do the chemistry; always a mistake if you have your chemicals with you!
Here is a mosaic of the extraordinary golds, yellows, browns and greens of Beech, Oak, Hazel and Yew in the autumnal Staffhurst Wood
I found this very interesting Graphidaceae family lichen on an oak; the family includes the genera Graphis, Opegrapha, Phaeographis and many more. Due to advances in genomics the taxonomy of this family is constantly being revised; for example, the species Graphis scripta sensu lato has now been subdivided into three different species. I don't know what this species is; but it has very thick lirellae (the writing like apothecia, fruiting bodies, of Graphidaceae lichens)
Cudoniella acicularis, Oak Pin (a fungus)
on an oak stump.
Does what is says on the tin.
The Pond
This is a spectacular woodland, but allow at least an hour to walk from/to Hurst Green or Edenbridge Town stations
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