of Western Afghanistan and North-Eastern Persia. 161 



to the localities in which it was only found, and its having 

 no local name of its own, I came to form the opinion that 

 here it has been introduced, and is not an indigenous 

 plant. 



II. Poisons imported. 



The seeds of Stkychxos Nux-vo.mica, and Arsenic, are 

 imported for the purpose of poisoning dogs and wolves. 



Pole-cat — Putorius species. 



Polygonatum verticillatum, All. Liliace^. 



The tieshy rhizomes of this plant were collected in the 

 Kuram Valley of Afghanistan under the name shakdkal, sent 

 to Cabul, and thence exported to India, via Peshawur, as 

 shakdkal misri, valued by the natives in the same way as 

 Orchis tubers, as a sort of strength-giving food. I did not 

 collect this here, but was informed that it was a common 

 root, collected in the Koh-i-baba range. 



Polypogan littorale, Sm. Gramine^. 

 Kulk. A grass common on the banks of irrigation channels 

 considered a good fodder grass. 



Pomegranate — the fruit of Puxica Graxatum. 

 Poplar — the black or Lombardy Poplar, Populus 

 NIGRA ; the Euphratic Poplar, Populus 



EUPHRATICA. 



Poppy — the Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum ; 

 wild poppies, Papaver dubium, Papaver 

 PAVONINUM ; and Rcemeria species. 



Populus euphratica, OUv. Salicixe^. 



The Euphratic Poplar, pada, padak. This is an indigen- 

 ous tree over most of the country traversed; it forms forests 

 on the islands and banks of the Helmand and Hari-rud, 

 showing good-sized timber, but the tree does not average over 

 20 feet in height ; at higher altitudes, say 3000 feet, as at 

 Gulran in the Badghis, it was more of a shrub. In a climate 

 with a severe winter, such as Khusan, it loses all its leaves 

 at once ; in Sind, on the Indus, these fall off' irregularly 



TRA^'S, BOT. SOC. VOL. XVIII. X 



