288 Dr. Falconer on the Asafcetida Plant of Central Asia. 



smooth, and exhibit nothing of the " quadamtenus pilosum sive asperum" de- 

 scribed in the ' Arnoenitates,' p. 538. Dr. Lindley in his ' Flora Medica,' p. 45, 

 after an abridgement of Ksempfer's description, states, it is not mentioned 

 upon what evidence, the vittse of the back to be " about 20 or 22, interrupted, 

 anastomosing, and turgid with Asafoetida; of the commissure 10." This ac- 

 count will apply to the fruit of a species of Ferula, but is entirely at variance 

 with the characters presented by the fruits of the plants observed by Keempfer 

 in Persia, and by myself in Astore. 



Keempfer in his description says : " Folia ser6 autumno ex vertice proger- 

 minant, sex, septem, et pro radicis magnitudine plura vel pauciora: quae per 

 brumam luxurios^ vigent adultoque vere exarescunt." From the information 

 which I gathered on the spot, confirmed by subsequent observation upon the 

 growing plants introduced into the Botanic Garden at Saharunpoor, the 

 leaves of the Astore Asafoetida plant make their appearance in spring, and not 

 in autumn surviving through the winter, as stated by Ksempfer respecting 

 the Persian form. With these slight discrepancies, his description might 

 serve for the Astore plant. 



Narthex, both in the characters of the flower and fruit, and in its " paeony- 

 leaved" habit, differs widely from any known species of Ferula, and appears 

 to constitute a well-marked genus distinct from any hitherto described. I 

 have not been able to find it described in Boissier's 'Diagnoses Plantarum 

 Orientalium,' and it does not occur among the sets of Persian Umhelliferce 

 from Aucher-Eloy's collection in the British Museum, or in the herbarium of 

 Sir W. Hooker, although that traveller appears to have collected in or near 

 the Asafoetida region. 



I met with the plant growing wild in the valley of Astore, one of the sub- 

 ordinate valleys of the Indus behind Cashmeer, about the middle of Septem- 

 ber 1838, when returning from an exploratory journey into the Thibetan 

 region of Central Asia. On showing the specimens to Jubbar Khan, the 

 Dardoh Rajah of the country, he at once named it as the plant which yields 

 the " Heeng," or Asafoetida of commerce. In the Dardoh or Dangree lan- 

 guage (the Dardohs being the Daradri of Arrian), the plant is called " Sip" 

 or " Sup ;" and the young shoots of the stem in spring are highly prized as an 

 excellent and delicate vegetable. Jubbar Khan was well-versed in the Per- 



