24 DR. J. E. Т. AITCHISON ON THE BOTANY OF 
Afghanistan; and I was told here that the shrub was of no use, not even for fodder; 
but near Meshed I found that the people used its annual shoots for basket-work. 
Except near water the northern declivity of these hills is entirely devoid of vegetation; 
but on these southern exposures I found several good examples of Pistacia Terebinthus, 
var. mutica; Kalix babylonica, a large tree in the vicinity of water; and in the clefts of 
the rocks, the same Ficus as that collected at Sim-koh was occasional, and in the stream- 
beds numerous groves of tamarisk. It should be mentioned that several small streams 
which originate in this range, after running for some distance, gradually sink into the 
soil, and disappear. 
KHORASAN. 
I made two journeys into Khorasan as far as Meshed, on the first occasion travelling 
by Turbat-i-Shaikh-Jami, and on the second by Rui-khauf and Turbat-i-Haidri. The 
most interesting portion of these journeys, botanically speaking, was that experienced 
in the hills south of Turbat-i-Shaikh-Jami, near Bezd, which reach an altitude of perhaps 
7000 feet. "The village of Bezd lay hidden at the base of the hills, and was well watered 
bya stream. Here I first saw some fine orchards of splendid walnut trees, besides all the 
fruit trees previously mentioned, with the almond and peach in great luxuriance; and 
in addition to the common trailing vine, there was a standard variety bearing a rather 
sweet green grape said to be seedless. Rhus coriaria was cultivated for its leaves for | 
dyeing and tanning processes, and the pistacio was cultivated, which last I was told was 
not the case in Afghanistan. In the village there were some fine trees of Platanus 
orientalis, and in the orchards the mulberry trees were remarkable for their immense size. 
I was informed that for some time back sericulture had ceased, owing to disease amongst 
the silk-worms, but that the village had been celebrated for the yield of its silk some 
fifty years previously. The inhabitants have now in its place taken to the cultivation of 
the poppy for the production of opium, which was proving the ruin of the inhabitants, 
as every one, even children, either smoked or ate the drug. 
I made an excursion into the hills by following up the stream-bed, and at about 
5000 feet I found myself in a deep gorge between cliffs of limestone and conglomerate 
rocks. On these Dionysia tapetodes occurred in moss-like clusters with Campanula 
incanescens, Parietaria officinalis, and Cheilanthes Szovitsii, the last being the second 
fern that I had seen or collected in my wanderings, besides a species of Ewphorbia, 
remarkable in habit of growth, in the clefts of the rock. Before I had it in my 
hand I thought it was another fern, owing to its resemblance to an Asplenium. In the 
water-courses, along with shrubs of Berberis, Cotoneaster, Eleagnus, Lonicera, Prunus 
Salix, and Rosa, was a tall dicecious species of Lychnis, with Orchis laxiflora and 0. 
latifolia, Scrophularia alata, and Iris Gueldenstaedtii. Between the stream-bed and 
the Tocks the gnarled, woody, dwarf, scrubby Rhamnus persica was common, with 
several grasses, including Oryzopsis cerulescens in great beds; Arrhenatherum Kotschyi, 
an oat-like grass with curious bulbous roots, and Agropyrum repens. Тһе showy 
 Hemenocraster elegans was in great luxuriance, its large rose-coloured calyces rendering 
_ it very conspicuous ; Eremurus aurantiacus, brilliant against the dull colouring of the 
