THE KITBAM VALLEY, ETC., AFGHANISTAN. 51 



what is then a leafless shrub gives a brilliant colouring to the bare 

 stony country upon which it grows. 



Prunus persica, BentTi. fy Hook.f. 



Is sparingly cultivated in the Shalizan orchards in both forms, 

 peach and nectarine. 



P. armeniaca, L. 



The apricot is cultivated largely in orchards up] to 9000 feet. 

 There are several forms of the fruit. 



700. P. Cerasus, L. 



The cherry. A few trees exist in the Kuram valley ; I have 

 seen two small ones at Shalizan, and I have been informed of 

 others existing in other villages. 



38", 317. P. Jacquemontii, Hook.f. in Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. p. 314. Flores 

 rosei, foliis coaetanei, solitarii, brevissime peduneulati, 8-10 lineas dia- 

 metro ; calycis tubus cylindricus, 3-4 lineas longus, extus glaber, intu 

 parce pilosulus ; lobi oblongi, rotundati, lineam longi, extus glabri, intus 

 albo-pilosi ; petala oblongo-elliptica, apice rotundata, 3-4 lineas longa, 

 basi supra calycem glandula lineata notata ; stamina 25-, 30 petalis 

 duplo triplove breviora ; ovarium glabrum ; stylus exsertus. 

 An extremely common shrub from Shalizan to Alikhel. When 



the fruit is ripe and the bush is covered with it, which is usually 



the case, it forms a very pretty object in the landscape. It would 



be worth cultivating for ornamental purposes. 



702. P. communis, Huds., var. 



The cultivated plum. The specimens were collected from trees 

 near Kaiwas in July, that may be escapes ; but apparently this 

 tree seems to spread through the woods in the lower hills at from 

 7000 to 9000 feet very easily. About 20 feet high, 4 feet girth. 

 Fruit yellow or red, resembling poorer specimens of garden 

 fruit. 



807. P. communis, Huds.,v&r. 



A cultivated plum, round and flattened at the ends, like a large 

 greengage, but slightly purplish in colour and very watery when 

 ripe; not fleshy, and having an extremely thin skin that completely 

 separates from the pulp. Shendtoi, in an old orchard, 7000 feet. 

 Both the above plums are grown in the orchards of all the large 

 villages of the Kuram valley, but less so in those of the Hariab 

 district. 



387. P. Padus, L. 



A small tree, not very common from 7500 to 9000 feet in the 



E2 



