VEGETATION OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN, 293 
Percentage of whole 
N. O. No. of Species. Collection. 
Composite ........ 81 11:5 
Gramineæ ........ 70 100 
Leguminose ...... 66 9:4 
Cramer ...... 48 6'8 
Labiste 2.5 sess ss 35 50 
Chenopodiaceæ .... 24 34 
Boragineæ ........ 23 33 
Edu e... 23 33 
Caryophylleæ ...... 20 2:8 
Baosscem ........:. 20 2:8 
The hills and plains, which for the greater part of the year 
look brown and barren, are covered in the spring, from March to 
May, with a vast number of flowering plants; small for the most 
part, but many of them brilliantly coloured, thus totally changing 
the general appearance of the country. The most common 
colour of the flowers is yellow, and purple comes next. 
The Flora is remarkably rich in Cruciferz compared with the 
Himalayas, about Simla for example; also in the number of 
Astragali, which are chiefly spring plants. A marked feature 
of the vegetation of the country is the number of spinous plants 
that are found. Even cultivated species when they do not get 
sufficient moisture become spiny—the common apricot, for 
instance; but the majority of these spinous plants belong to the 
Composit, which natural order forms 113 per cent. of the total 
vegetation, and to the genus Astragalus. 
Although the grasses are very numerous, a large proportion 
of them are annuals and soon die down when the weather 
becomes hot, some of them coming up again late in the year on 
irrigated land; but generally speaking good fodder grass is not 
abundant, Andropogon laniger being the only species which covers 
large tracts of land. 
Out of the 700 species collected eleven only appear to be new 
to science, though a few others remain undetermined. In the 
following paragraphs the composition of the vegetation is given 
of well known and distinct geographical areas. 
Vegetation of the Plains at Sibi. 
The vegetation in the neighbourhood of Sibi is similar to 
that of part of the Punjab plains and Sind; the uncultivated land 
