Dr. Griffith on the Vegetation of Afghanistan. 193 



ducts. In Afghanistan, most of the foetid, or aromatic foetid 

 gum resins, such as opoponax, assafcetida, ammoniacum, sa- 

 gapenum, will probably be found. Of these the most import- 

 ant is the assafcetida, as it is largely exported, and consumed 

 in the country as an adjunct to cookery. It was first an- 

 nounced as existing in the country, I believe, by Sir A. 

 Burnes ; it appears to be of general occurrence on the hilly 

 tracts. Probably it is furnished by two species. At Metah, 

 Capt. E. Conolly told me it was produced largely in the hot 

 country of Seistan. He also informed me, that it was col- 

 lected in conical pieces of paper, placed over a complete sec- 

 tion of the plant, at the junction of stem and root. 



As famous a plant as the assafcetida exists in the Prangos pa- 

 Maria. In Afghanistan, however, it certainly does not merit 

 the reputation which Mr. Moorcroft has recorded it possesses 

 in some parts of Thibet. This plant is not uncommon on the 

 Huzarah mountains, at an elevation of 9500 and 11,500 feet; 

 but it is not used more, either as summer or winter fodder, 

 than most of the plants possessed of any degree of succulence 

 of the same districts. It is, as I have said, cut indiscriminately 

 with thistles, docks, and a host of others, which would sur- 

 prise an English farmer ; this agrees generally with Dr. Fal- 

 coner's experience. 



The Maimunna, a Rhamnasous genus, is held in some est( 

 for its fruit, which for an uncultivated one is by no means 

 unpleasant. It is common throughout the lower parts of East- 

 ern Afghanistan ; the fruit is a black berry of the size of a 

 black currant, and of sweetish flavour. A much more esteemed 

 fruit, which is sold commonly in the bazaars, is the Goorgoora y 

 Edgeworthia buxifolia, Fal. : this plant was first found by Dr, 

 Falconer about Peshawur, and by him was named after Mr. 

 Edgeworth, a distinguished member of the Bengal Civil Ser- 

 vice. Its natural characters are, as it were, intermediate be- 

 tween Myrsinece and Theophrastece, tending likewise towards 

 Sapotece. The fruit is roundish and succulent, about the size of 

 a small marble ; it is principally occupied by the seed, which is 

 not eatable. I have not seen it fresh. It is considered heat- 

 ing by the Afghans, and this perhaps is the reason of its being 

 common in the bazaars. The plant is generally a thorny shrub: 

 it is common throughout the lower parts of the hills of East- 

 ern Afghanistan. 



The Sinjit, which is probably the Elaagnus orientalis, ought 

 perhaps to have been enumerated among the cultivated fruit- 

 trees ; it is commonly planted along the banks of water-cuts, 

 and is ornamental from its graceful crown and gray foliage. 



Ann. fy Mag. N. Hist. Vol.x. O 



