VEGETATION OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN, 297 
which is very likely due to a more abundant rainfall than the 
more western parts of the country receive, though there are no 
available records of the quantity. At the entrance to the gorge 
Sida rhombifolia was found, which is noteworthy as being the 
first Sida recorded from Baluchistan; and close by Ruellia 
patula occurred, the only species belonging to the Acanthaceæ 
that was collected in the country. Most of the plants already 
mentioned as occurring near Hurnai are represented for some 
distance up the rift. Dalbergia Sissoo extends up to 4000 ft., 
and near water Nerium odorum is common, Ficus virgata 
occasional, and in shady places Asplenium Capillus-Veneris grows 
luxuriantly, while Pteris longifolia is rare. The precipitous 
hills on each side of the rift are dotted with Olea europea; near 
and above Torkhán (4700 ft.) and Dilküna, Pistacia Khinjak 
and P. mutica var. cabulica are very common; Celtis australis 
is less abundant and usually much hacked about for feeding 
sheep and goats. Dodonæa viscosa is very abundant above 
3500 ft., its upper limit seeming to be about 5000 ft.; usually 
gregarious, this species is sometimes mixed with Gymnosporia 
montana, Vitex Agnus-Castus, Rhamnus persicus, and Prunus 
eburnea, and grows best just out of the reach of floods. 
In the clefts of the limestone rocks a few small bushes of 
Ehretia obtusifolia were occasionally seen, and on the edges of 
the ravines Lantana alba and Abutilon bidentatum. The dwarf- 
palm, too, is frequent. Myrsine africana, a common Himalayan 
and African shrub, is rarely met with. There were a few small 
bushes of it a little below Torkhan, at 4500 ft., but I have not 
seen it elsewhere. 
A shrubby form of Prunus Amygdalus occurs here, and, 
unlike the cultivated species, so frequent in the Quetta and 
Gwäl valleys, flowers at the same time or after the leaves come 
out. It is found at Torkhän, above Dilküna, and in other parts 
of the country further north, such as the Pil rift, behind the 
Khalipat range, &c., and may be the wild form of P. Amygdalus. 
The branches are generally lopped by the shepherds for feeding 
their herds, and in such cases curious long shoots spring up in 
the centre of the shrubs on which there are a few narrow, linear 
leaves, entirely different from the normal ones, and in this it 
again differs from the cultivated species, whose coppice-shoots 
bear normal leaves. 
In early spring one of the most striking shrubs is Prunus 
