147 
A. J. Davey & C. M. Gibson. 
NOTE ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF SEXES IN 
MY RICA GALE. 
By A. J. Davey, M.Sc., and C. M. Gibson, B.Sc. 
[With Plate I and One Figure in the Text.] 
M YRICA GALE , the common Bog Myrtle, is described as 
typically dioecious, thus agreeing with the majority of the 
other members of Myricaceae. The present note calls 
attention to the characters of various types of monoecious indi¬ 
viduals and to variations in sex. 
The occasional occurrence of some expression of the monoecious 
condition has been noted by several authors. 1 Thus Chevalier 2 
mentions the exceptional presence of monoecious shoots, and of 
androgynous catkins, and Marshall Ward 3 states that hermaphrodite 
flowers may occur. 
Observations during several successive years on a large area 
of Myrica Gale in the peat moors of Somerset show that there 
always exists a small proportion of monoecious plants which 
present all gradations between the normal staminate and pistillate 
types. The series includes plants bearing catkins which contain 
hermaphrodite flowers. This has been found to be true as regards 
other areas in different parts of the country. 
Further it has been found that the sex (if it may be so termed) 
of a bush or shoot may vary from year to year. The variations 
observed during several years have been almost entirely in the 
direction of change from the pistillate to the staminate condition; 
but in the present season (1916) several instances of the reverse 
change have been noted. 
The Somerset area includes situations differing considerably 
in level, and consequently differing as regards moisture conditions. 
The low levels produced by the removal of a considerable depth of 
peat are always wet and boggy, and are flooded to various depths 
during the winter; the high levels consist of dry peat which is 
never flooded. 
In all situations, staminate plants appear to be more 
numerous, but the relative proportion of pistillate plants was found 
to be greater in the wet than in the dry areas. Thus in a dry area 
1 Moss, C. E. The Cambridge British Flora. Vol. II., Camb. Univ. 
Press, 1914, p. 69. 
5 Chevalier, Aug. Monographic des Myricacees. Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. 
Cherbourg, XXXII., 1901-2, p. 178. 
3 Marshall Ward, H. “ Trees.” Vol. III., Camb. Univ. Press, 1905, p. 204. 
