VEGETATION OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN. 295 
years a considerable number of trees of Acacia arabica have been 
raised from seed in the fields round Sibi. 
Vegetation of the Hurnai Railway route. 
On leaving Sibi and proceeding up the Hurnai route the outer 
hills are almost, if not quite, destitute of vegetation, and in the 
valleys leading off on either side of the Nari river there is little 
beyond a few miserable bushes or trees of the same species as 
noted at Sibi. Between Spintangi (2000 ft.) and Sunerai, Vitex 
Agnus- Castus is met with for the first time, and this gregarious 
shrub, with a tall species of Aristida and Saccharum eiliare, are 
the characteristic plants of the dry, stony watercourses up to 
about 4500 ft., beyond Shahrag. Up to 3000 ft. Acacia Jacque- 
montit occurs with the above, and Nerium odorum, deadly 
poisonous to camels, is found near water up to 6000 ft. 
In cultivation at Hurnai, Dalbergia Sissoo, Olea europea, 
Morus alba, and a few Prosopis spicigera trees are found; the 
two former of which will be treated of under “ Forests.” On the 
surrounding stony ground Periploca aphylla is abundant, affording 
fodder for camels and fuel for the people; Zizyphus nummu- 
laria, Z. oxyphylla, Gymnosporia montana, and Capparis aphylla 
also occur, and a few miserable shrubs of Acacia modesta ; this 
being the western limit of the last-named shrub. 
A little below Hurnai the dwarf-palm, Nannorrhops Ritchieana, 
commences to form dense thickets, which reach their maximum 
extent at Shahrag, where they cover many acres of ground. I 
may mention in passing that immense quantities of its leaves 
are cut yearly for making matsandropes. This palm extends up 
to 5500 ft., and is common on the rocks inthe Wani and Mehrab 
rifts, and at the base of the low hills. The date-palm is rare. 
On the low bills and stony, flat ground in this region many 
species of herbaceous plants and grasses are found, amongst 
which may be mentioned :— Farsetia Jacquemontü, Malcolmia 
strigosa, Polygala Hohenackeriana, in the shade of rocks, Viola 
cinerea, in the näla-beds, Argyrolobium roseum, Citrullus Colo- 
cynthus, Psammogeton biternatum, Astericus pygmaeus, Picridium 
tingitanum, Solanum gracilipes, S. xanthocarpum, and several 
species of Plantago. In or near cultivated land, Althea Ludwigii 
and Fumaria parviflora are common ; on the banks of irrigation- 
channels, Lippia nodiflora; and hanging down from the perpen- 
