Ebernoe is dominated by old wood pasture where Commoners would have turned out their cattle or pigs to graze and browse on young trees and scrub, Beech mast and acorns, or on the grassy meadows in glades and clearings. Grazing stopped by the middle of the 20th century. Reserve profile | Sussex Wildlife Trust
I got to Ebernoe by car yesterday, as I visited with a car-driving friend. I have visited Ebernoe many times and normally I take two busses and walk. Details of how to get to Ebernoe is given here: Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Wild Flowers at Ebernoe Common. 07.04.23
Ebernoe Common is an SSSI and a National Nature Reserve
All parts of the text in italics are quotations, sources given at the end of the quotation. If you not any identification errors please let me know: simeon{underscore]elliott[at]yahoo[dot]
We visited Ebernoe in search of fungi and lichen. We saw little fruiting fungi in the woods but we did see some grassland fungi in Furnace meadow. We saw many lichens, but not those rad book lichen listed in the SSSI specification. However, it was an excellent day, because the colours of the woodland were stunning, and we found Butchers Broom in flower; which is always a treat.
From the SSSI citation Ebernoe Common is of national importance as an example of a large ancient woodland. It contains a wide range of structural and vegetation community types which have been influenced in their development by differences in the underlying soils and past management. The native trees, particularly those with old growth characteristics, support rich lichen and fungal communities, and a diverse woodland breeding bird assemblage. Nationally important maternity roosts for barbastelle bat Barbastella barbastellus and Bechstein’s bat Myotis bechsteinii occur within the woodland.
Ebernoe Common is a complex of ancient woodland blocks largely derived from ancient wood pasture. The northern and southern sections of the site contain woodland managed as high forest in more recent times. The site also contains 78 of the 100 ancient woodland indicator plants for south-eastern England.
Closed High Forest
The most extensive woodland type is closed canopy beech Fagus sylvatica high forest with some oak Quercus robur, which occupies the central and western plateau of Ebernoe and Colhook Commons (predominantly National Vegetation Classification (NVC) W14 Fagus sylvatica-Rubus fruticosus woodland and W15 Fagus sylvatica-Deschampsia flexuosa woodland). Holly Ilex aquifolium forms a dense understorey with scattered yew Taxus baccata. Beneath the closed beech canopy the ground flora is virtually absent, but where canopy gaps occur the flora reflects local variations in the degree of acidity and drainage of the silty soil. A large number of plants indicative of ancient woodlands occur, including wood melick Melica uniflora, thin-spiked wood sedge Carex strigosa, yellow pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum and wood millet Milium effusum.
A series of predominantly oak/ash woods with hazel Corylus avellana understorey managed as high forest lie within the southern section of Ebernoe Common (predominantly NVC W8 Fraxinus excelsior-Acer campestre-Mercurialis perennis woodland and W10a Quercus robur-Pteridium aquilinum-Rubus fruticosus woodland). Bittles Field, lying on the slopes of a narrow stream valley, contains particularly fine examples of mature oaks.
At the northern end of the site are Kiln Copse, Mercers Copse and a series of smaller copses, all predominantly oak high forest with ash-rich woodland on valley slopes (predominantly NVC W8 Fraxinus excelsior-Acer campestre-Mercurialis perennis woodland and W10a Quercus robur-Pteridium aquilinum-Rubus fruticosus woodland). The ground flora is dominated by bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta with abundant wood anemone Anemone nemorosa in some parts. Other ancient woodland indicator species present include wild service tree Sorbus torminalis, butchers broom Ruscus aculeatus, yellow archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon, hairy wood-rush Luzula pilosa, and southern wood-rush L. forsteri.
In the north and east of Ebernoe Common, oak is co-dominant with beech in a more open high forest with abundant holly. This area is predominantly NVC W8 Fraxinus excelsior Acer campestre-Mercurialis perennis woodland, W10a Quercus robur-Pteridium aquilinum Rubus fruticosus woodland, and W14 Fagus sylvatica-Rubus fruticosus woodland. In the south-eastern end of this block outcrops of "Paludina" limestone give rise to base rich soils occupied by a less mature woodland of field maple Acer campestre, oak, hazel and ash. Spindle Euonymus europaeus is present and the ground flora includes early purple orchid Orchis mascula and greater butterfly orchid Platanthera chlorantha. Wild service tree is a frequent component in the oak-hazel woodland of Willand Wood and two other uncommon species, butcher's broom and wild daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus occur throughout this wood.
Wood Pasture
In the south, Hoads Common is ancient wood pasture, which although not grazed for many years, retains elements of a wood pasture structure, with old pedunculate oak and beech, including a few pollards, scrub, and open glades. The greater part consists of oak woodland, with dense and frequently impenetrable holly dominating the understorey. At the northern end beech is dominant with very tall mature trees. It is predominantly NVC W10a Quercus robur-Pteridium aquilinum-Rubus fruticosus woodland and W14 Fagus sylvatica-Rubus fruticosus woodland.
Lichens Ebernoe
Common supports a nationally important assemblage of lichen species (over 100), the largest recorded number found in woodland over Weald Clay, including several which are closely associated with ancient woodland such as Catillaria atropurpurea and Stenocybe septata. The lichen assemblage includes four Red Data Book species, Agonimia octospora, Micarea pycnidiophora, Pertusaria pustulata and Ramonia chrysophaea as well as one nationally rare species, 12 nationally scarce species, and 20 species listed on the New Index of Ecological Continuity.
Fungi
The site also supports a nationally important assemblage of fungi including seven Red Data Book species: oak polypore Buglossoporus pulvinus, spine-face Creolophus (=Hericium) cirrhatus, coral spine-face Hericium coralloides, pink meadow waxcap Hygrocybe calyptriformis, Collybia racemosa, Coriolopsis gallica and Cortinarius cyanopus. These are species particularly associated with ancient woodland and wood pasture with a significant dead wood resource. https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1004246.pdf
Map: ebernoewebmap1.pdf
The wall of the Church
Pixie Paradise. Churches - i.e. walls of the church, walls around the churchyard and grave stones - are a wonderful habitat for cryptograms (organisms that reproduces through spores): lichens, bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) and ferns, and their unimproved grass is often a fabulous habitat for grassland fungi. The bricks of the church were produced by the brick kiln in Ebernoe Common. The brick wall round Ebernoe Church graveyard is a highly propitious habitat for Pixie Cup lichens (Cladonia sp.), mostly (all?) Cladonia fimbriata, Trumpet Lichen),and other lichens such as Tephromela atra (Black-eye lichen) and possibly Porpidia crustulata and Trapelia placodioides. We looked at this wall for 15 minutes. If you spent several days at this church you'd probably find 100+cryptogram species
Probably Cladonia fimbriata
Black-eye Lichen, Tephromela atra
Possibly Concentric Boulder Lichen Porpidia crustulata
Possibly Trapelia placodioides
Furnace Meadow
Oily Waxcap
Possibly Snowy Waxcap Cuphophyllus virgineus
Meadow Coral Fungus Clavulinopsis corniculata
Probably White Spindles Clavaria fragilis
Probably Golden Waxcap Hygrocybe chlorophana
The organisms on a young Birch Betula sp. next to Furnace Meadow
Whose been munching the warts (with apothecia), and surrounding thallus, of these Pertusaria pertusa, and eating the lirellae, and surrounding thallus, of this Graphidaceae (script) family lichen> At first I thought it was a slug or snail; then I found the culprit, red mouthed! A lava of the moth Taleporia tubulosa. A Very Hungry Lava!
This species produces a long, narrow case made from fragments of sand, lichen and bark, bound together with silk, and the larva feeds on lichens where the case is attached (usually a tree trunk or fence). Taleporia tubulosa Pupal exuviae | UKmoths
Taleporia tubulosa
Graphidaceae (script) family lichen, possible Arthonia radiata, Asterisk Lichen and Pertusaria leioplaca, eaten by this moth lava or slugs or snails
The case of the Taleporia tubulosa lava possibly provides a substrate for a Orthotricum sp. moss. Is the moss growing on the case or has the lava just trapped a fragment of moss in its silk? Probably the latter. There are not many animals that wear "clothes" made of bryophytes and lichen!
The very characteristic liverwort Frulliana dilitata, Dilated Scalewort is also growing on this tree
This greenish or brownish, subpinnately branched leafy liverwort has shoots 0.7– 1.5 mm wide, with leaves up to 1 mm wide and 1.2 mm long. It has rounded lobes to the leaves, and large, helmet-shaped lobules which are about as wide as they are long. The lobes lack modified cells. Underleaves are present. Dioicous and frequently fertile. Male shoots look relatively narrow, and female shoots have conspicuous, warty perianths. British Bryological Society Frullania-dilatata.pdf
Ascodichaena rugosa First described by Linnaeus as a lichen: Lichen rugosum, but it is a non-lichenised fungus
Three Graphidaceae family lichens growing on the birch that would probably have been previously described as Graphis srcipta sensu lato, before the September 2023 British Lichen Society revision of the taxonomy of the family Graphidaceae; differential identification requires microscopic analysis of spores is required
Note: two of these, next to Pertusaria leiaplaca have thin prothalli: a prothallus a differently coloured border to a crustose lichen where the fungus is actively growing but there are no algal cells
The Brick Works
The brick and tile works on Ebernoe Common, 592m SSW of Mill House are a rare example of a small 18th century industrial manufacturing site used in the production of bricks and tiles. The clay pits are the result of the extraction of the raw material for the tiles and bricks. After it was dug the clay would have been left to break down over the winter and then mixed with sand and lime. It was then ground in the pug mill and the brick or tiles were shaped in the moulding shed. They were then dried in the drying shed on racks. Once dry they would be fired in the updraught kiln. This would have reached a temperature of around 1100 degrees centigrade and was heated continually, drawing air from underneath. The brick and tile works on Ebernoe Common have not been disturbed by later development and are an unusual survival given that the works were never enlarged or mechanised. Despite restoration, the timber-fired updraught kiln is of particular interest. Brick and tile works on Ebernoe Common, 592m SSW of Mill House, Ebernoe - 1005816 | Historic England
The roof of the moulding shed has Polypody fern growing on its roof; it is either Polypodium vulgare or P. interjectum; but it was too high to reach a frond to take a sporangium sample needed to differentiate between them.
Sulphur Dust Lichen, Psilolechia lucida, on one brick of the finishing shed
The kiln, with Hart's-Tongue Fern, Asplenium scolopendrium growing in it
The Brick Kiln - photo taken by Ebernoe brick works | The Foraging Photographer
Probably Usnea cornuta, Inflated Beard Lichen on a pile of Hawthorn twigs outside the brick kiln
East of clay pit pond
A photo of the pool I took in April 2023 Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Wild Flowers at Ebernoe Common. 07.04.23
Probably Pertusaria hymnenea on an Quercus robur; a member of Mature Mesic Bark Community (Pertusarietum amarae). Pertusaria hymenea | The British Lichen Society;
A Spindle Tree Euonymus europaeus; an ancient woodland indicator species
Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor
Area of high forest woodland type
Holly European Holly Ilex aquifolium possibly with European Holly Leafminer Phytomyza ilicis; a leaf mining fly in the family Agromyzidae.
Butcher's Broom, Ruscus Aculeatus; an ancient woodland indicator species
A dioecious, evergreen, rhizomatous shrub, found as a native in dry woods and hedgerows, and on cliffs and rocky ground near the sea in southern England, the Channel Islands and on the Gower in Wales. It reproduces vegetatively by creeping rhizomes, and by seed, which is bird-dispersed. Lowland. Ruscus aculeatus L. in BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020
Butchers broom is quite unlike any other British plant. It is a short evergreen bush growing up to about two feet high and all the leaves end in a pointed spike; one of its old English names is ‘knee holly’. In early spring, the tiny, pale green six-petalled flowers sit in the middle of the leaf and show that these leaves are, technically, flattened stems.
Butchers broom was used to scour butcher’s blocks until the nineteenth century. The spiky leaves seem ideal for getting into the cuts of old wooden blocks to clean them. Butchers-broom - New Forest National Park Authority
Pertusaria pertusa with Pertusaria hymnenea on a birch, Beula sp.
Another Graphidaceae family lichen; identification requires microscopy of spores
A "hanging garden" of Cladonia sp. lichen, probably C. coniocrea, on wood stump
King Alfred's Cakes Aldinia concentrica. Tiny fire-lighters with an embarrassing story, King Alfred’s cakes are named after the king’s poor baking skills. Spot them growing in broadleaf woodland where they can last for years. King Alfred’s Cakes (Daldinia concentrica) - Woodland Trust
Oak Moss, Evernia punastri (a lichen not a moss) and Hammered Shield Lichen, Parmelia sulcata
Pasture Woodland
In wood pasture... animals could graze on the grass and herb layer, browse the lower branches for leaves/young shoots and forage for acorns and beech mast (in season). The effect of this was to discourage regeneration. Such areas were often pollarded – that is the branches were lopped/cut some 6 to 10 feet from the ground and allow to grow on for some years – giving firewood or rough timber. Pollarding increased the life span of the trees - as they were less likely to suffer wind damage or to topple over. Wood pasture tended to preserve older/ancient, or even veteran, trees and the associated plant and animal communities (e.g. lichens); whereas coppice & coppicing help maintain the ground flora (herb layer) and shrubs and their associated birds and fauna (butterflies and moths etc.). Coppice and wood pasture.
Pedunculate Oak, Quercus robur
Pedunculate Oak, Quercus robur, with Old-tree lichen Lecanactis abietina on left hand side of left tree
Pedunculate Oaks. Quercus Robur
Seemingly dead Hawthorn, Crataegus Crataegus monogyna or C. laevigata
Whilst the tree is probably dead its lichen and bryophyte epiphytes carry on living as they do not take their nutrition from the tree; the tree just provides a substrate on which to grow.
Mouse-tail Moss, Pseudisothecium myosuroides; Common Powderhorn, Cladonia coniocrea; and Broom Forkmoss, Dicranum scoparium
Theses species on the in/on the hawthorn; Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, and Honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum, are not epiphytes as they have roots in the ground and take nutrition from the soil
A great day!
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