CORNUS SUECICA LINN. AND MYRICA GALE LINN. 
ON THE YORK MOORS. 
HAROLD J . BURKILL, M.A., F.R.G.S. 
Last year I managed, when on holiday on the York Moors, to 
inspect one of the chief habitats of Cornus suecicu. The plants 
there were apparently not thriving, and the colony seemed in 
danger of being exterminated. The few specimens I saw were 
very small, growing under Bracken, and there was no sign of 
flower or fruit. Possibly they were suffering more from the 
dry weather than the Bracken was, and with a return to more 
moist conditions the Cornus may revive. Otherwise the much 
reduced numbers of the plant lead one to the conclusion that 
the colony is disappearing, being so much smaller than it 
was when I saw it in 1904, 1905 and 1909. 
This is the only patch of Cornus that I know growing 
among Bracken, and I don’t think the fern showed any differ- 
ence in density than it did when I was there in 1909. All 
the other lots of Cornus are among the Heather. I was un- 
fortunately not able to get over to Goathland to visit the largest 
patch. 
From the appearance of the country drained by the head 
waters of Little Beck in Iburndale, I should not be surprised 
to hear of Cornus being found in that district. 
The Bracken on Dalby Warren showed very plainly the 
effect of the drought, being stunted and only eighteen inches 
to two feet in height. In former years it was not unusual to 
find large areas where it was well over six feet high and almost 
impossible to force a passage through. 
Myrica Gale is another attractive moorland plant. Mr. 
Elgee gives many details of its occurrence in ‘ The Moorlands 
of North-eastern Yorkshire.’ It seems to be spreading in 
the Derwent and Juggera Valleys, and in September I paid 
three visits to the head of the latter, and I was able thoroughly 
to examine the swamps drained by Biller Howe Beck. 
It is well established all along the southern margin of the 
depression among the Heather, especially where there were 
hollows in the slope and the ground was wetter. It has not 
yet, however, reached the watershed between Biller Howe Beck 
and Blea Hill Beck, nor did I notice it on the steep slope down 
to the latter valley, but it occurs down by the stream. Mr. 
Elgee had noticed it only in the lower portion of the Biller 
Howe swamp when writing in 1912. It is plentiful in the 
lower part of the drainage dip from Foul Sike, but I failed 
to find it in the upper portion. 
There was a great advantage in 1921 for closer examination 
of the Moorland flora, as it was possible to walk about most 
1922 Apl. 1 
