172 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



:ill. It seems that the rhizome which descends very deep into the 

 siihstratum furnishes the necessary moisture. 



Bfeweria latifolia, Convolvulus rottleriavu.^, and ('. mkrophyllus 

 are small undershrubs confined to the dry parts of the Presi- 

 dency. A dense felt of silky hairs and strong outer walls of the 

 epidermis seem to be their chief protection. The transpiring 

 surface ot Solanum xanthocarpum is considerably reduced by 

 the formation of numerous yellow prickles on the branches and 

 on the midrib and nerves of the leaves. Solamnn indicum and 

 /S. trilobatum are similarly armed. Bhqyharh sindica is protected 

 in various ways : the stem is mostly very short, often scarcely 

 visible ; the branches are ash-grey and covered with short hairs ; 

 the leaves are small linear and sessile, rough with stiff hairs, 

 and have the margins bent back ; at the base of the leaves there are 

 sometimes some small spinous teeth : the bracts are hairy on both 

 sides with a spinous point, the upper part is armed with recurved 

 sharp spines ; the bracteoles are hairy and ciliate : the outer and 

 inner side of the calyx are softly hairy, the o midnerves of the larger 

 calyx-segment are produced into 3 bristly teeth. In Salvia cegyp- 

 tiaca, var. pumila, we find that the vascular bundles of the main- 

 nerves are surrounded by water-tissue which unites the epidermis of 

 the upper side of the leave with that of the lower one. As to 

 yEma javanica there is scarcely any doubt that the thick woolly 

 felt covering almost all the parts of the plant, is protective in 

 function. In Salicirnia hrachiafa, a jointed branched shrub, trans- 

 piration is entirely confined to the green branches, there being only 

 scaly bracts and no leaves at all. Suceda fruticosa and S. ?iudfJlora, 

 which usually grow in saline places, have fleshy leaves. A transverse 

 section shows that the greatest part is occupied by water-tissue. 



Before concluding this paper I should like to make a few remarks 

 on the flora of the Grand Rann, as it has been suggested that 

 a, more accurate knowledge of the vegetation of that part of 

 the country might help to decide the question as to the origin 

 of the Rann. I cannot give a better description of that interesting 

 piece of land than the one given by Captain Grant^ in his 



1 Memoir to illustrate a (geological Map of Ciitch, by C. W. Grant, Esq., Captain, Bombay 

 Engineers (In the transactions of the Geological Society of London, Vol. V, p. 'J89, (II) 

 series). 



