THE KUKAM VALLEY, ETC., AFGHANISTAN. 43 



795. Trigonella corniculata, L. 



Common ; July. 

 681. Melilotus alba, L. 



Shalizan. 

 699. M. officinalis, Willd. 



Very common in cultivated ground and fields from Kuram to 

 Alikhel; June and July. 

 31, 665. M. lupulina, L. 



Shinnak, Kuram, and Shalizan, common ; April to June. 



355. M. sativa, L. 



A very common field-weed. Not cultivated now, nor could any 

 one tell me if it was formerly. It is certainly cultivated in the 

 Punjab, where it is also a weed. Common from Shalizan to Ali- 

 khel ; May and June. 

 2, 137, 649, 610. Lotus corniculatus, L. 



Yery common in moist meadows and on sides of watercourses 

 from Thai to Alikhel; April to June. 

 340, 630. Indigofera Gerardiana, Wall. 



A dense shrub up to 4 feet, profuse around Shalizan, forming 

 natural hedges around the fields by growing densely along the sides 

 of the watercourses that divide them ; also from Kuram to 7000 

 feet in the watercourses and low moist thickets ; not in the llanab 

 district. 

 511. Colutea arborescens, L. 



A tall thin shrub, met with in the Hariab district only, where 

 it is very common, and remarkable both for its inflorescence and 

 for the large inflated pods, which give it its local name, meaning 

 " bellows ;" June and July. 

 286. Caragana brevispina, Royle. 



On dry hills, amongst scattered scrub, at 7000 feet, around Sha- 

 lizan ; May. 

 549, 1220. C. ambigua, Stocks. 



A large shrub, in size of wood and appearance of hark very like 

 laburnum. Bark employed by the Afghans in the form of rings to 

 slip over and hold the sheaths of their long knives in position in lieu 

 of brass-work ; the surface takes a good polish, and when new re- 

 sembles bronzed leather. The wood is called " Jirrel." Alikhel, 

 Karatigah, and the hills north of Hariab district at 9000 to 11,000 

 feet. From native accounts there is none of it east of Spingbao. 

 Baker thinks C. ulicina, ambigua, and brevispina may be three 

 varieties of one species. I am of the same opinion. 



