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LINN ALA BOREALIS GRONOV. IN NORTH 
YORKSHIRE. 
R. J. FLINTOFF, F.C.S., F.L.S. 
In John Gilbert Baker’s Flora of North Yorkshire, 1906, page 
314, I find : ‘ Linncea borealis, Gronov. Scottish type, 
Native, Montane, Area 3. Range, 250-300. Silpho Moor,, 
between Scarborough and Whitby, discovered in 1863 by 
John Tissiman.’ In The Flora of Yorkshire, by Henry 
Baines, 1840, I cannot discover any mention of Linncea. In 
The Supplement , 1854, there is no record. 
I have been investigating the matter for years and I am 
unable to find any trace of Linncea on Silpho Moor, and more 
important, I cannot meet with any one who has, in spite of 
many observers having made diligent search. 
Mr. Bernard Reynolds in his list of ‘ Whitby Wild Flowers,’ 
1915, gives two stations, Goat.hland and Hackness. Rare. 
The Hackness station has most probably been copied from 
Baker, and regarding the Goathland station all I can say is. 
Linncea is so rare here that I have not seen it, nor can 
I find anyone who has. 
Canon Fisher in his list of ‘ Plants Twelve Miles Round 
Whitby, 1928, 1929, 1930,’ omitted Linncea on my suggestion, 
and no one has drawn attention to its having been left out of 
this record of local plants. 
So far as I can learn there is no record for this plant either 
in the East Riding or the West Riding, so Mr. Tissiman’s 
would appear the only one for the County of York, and the 
record is nearly 70 years old. We must, therefore, assume 
that no one has seen this plant during this long interval. 
These questions arise, naturally : If Mr. Tissiman did 
not find Linncea, what plant did he find, and is there any 
record of a dried specimen in any local or other herbarium. ? 
I am writing this note in the hope that it may be the means of 
bringing forth some evidence in regard to Linncea on Silpho 
Moor, and failing this the conclusion is surely warranted that 
Linncea borealis is not a Yorkshire plant. 
I wish to thank Dr. T. W. Woodhead, of Huddersfield, 
Mr. E. R. Cross and Mr. A. I. Burnley, of Scarborough, for 
their kind help, and Mr. A. E. Peck for very kindly making 
enquiries both in relation to Linncea borealis and Arctostaphylos 
uva-ursi. 
I have now drawn attention to four very doubtful records, 
for the present time in Baker’s North Yorkshire. 
1. Allium schoenoprasum in meadows at Kirby Moorside- 
in 1805, recorded by Mr. Flintoff. 
2. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi in long ling on the hills between 
The Naturalist 
