of IVi'sfcni Afghanistan and North-E((dci'n Persia. 1-45 



string ; in this way they are more easily dried and preserved 

 for transportation. I only collected the above two species, 

 and they are by no means common, owing to the localities 

 on which they thrive being limited, as well as the fact that 

 the tubers have been collected from these localities for 

 centuries, and hence the wonder is that these plants have 

 not been altogether eradicated. One cause in favour of 

 their being still present in these parts is that sheep and 

 goats do not browse on theni, as where every blade of grass 

 and other herbs had been closely cropped the flowers of the 

 above species of Orchids were standing out in great beauty. 



The value of Orchis tubers in the trade has created a 

 continuous attempt to substitute in their place the Imlbs or 

 tubers of other plants. In the museum at Kew I found 

 bulbs of what I believe to be the bulbs of Tulipa Montana 

 with the external coatings removed, marked as having been 

 originally sent to Kew as scdap, and, as seen by my paper in 

 the Annals of Botany, the bulbs of Allium M'Leanii and 

 other species of Allium are sold as hddsha-sdlap or as ambar- 

 kand. At Meshad, I was informed that sdlap-misrl was an 

 import from Egypt, and that it differed from the salab of the 

 country. I was unable to obtain any of it. Eulophia 

 campesteis is found in quantity in special localities in the 

 Punjab, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan. The tubers of this 

 plant are simple, but on the whole larger than those of 

 Orchis laxiflora. They are collected in the vicinity of 

 Lahore, and I do not see why they should not also form part 

 of the tubers exported from Afghanistan and Baluchistan 

 into India. 



Orisd, orisld — U--^^! — the scented rhizome of aii Iris 

 species. 



Orobanche, species. OROBAxcHACEiE. 



Several species of Orobanche are extremely common 

 throughout the country, growing as parasites on Labiat.*;, 

 Chenopode.^., Pycnocycla, Cousinia, Artemisia, Nicotiana, 

 Cucumis, and Tamarix. One species, growing to over 2 

 feet in height, with a splendid spike of purplish flowers, 

 occurs profusely in Tamafjx thickets, in such abundance 

 that it is collected by camel drivers in Baluchistan as fodder 



TRAXS. BOT. sou. VOL. Will. T 



