Populus.] LXXI. SALICINE^l. 475 



the annual floods have receded, on the fresh alluvial deposits (Katchas) which 

 are formed every year by the action of that river. There the Poplar forms 

 standard trees over the underwood of Tamarisk (p. 22j. Not uncommon in 

 the valleys of the Suliman range to 3000 ft. on small feeders of the Indus, 

 and also found in nooks and corners along the main river between Dehra 

 Ismail Khan and Attok. Higher up the Indus and its feeders, it is known in 

 Ladak, it is common in Nubra along the Shayok river, growing in pure sand 

 (Thomson, West. Him. 191). Dr Stewart mentions a tract along the (Nubra ?) 

 river at 10,500 ft. almost a mile long, covered by it, a plot of over a score of 

 trees at 12,000 ft., and an occasional tree at 13,500 ft. The tree is also wild in 

 the Southern Panjab (female more common than male trees), forming thickets 

 along the lower course of the Sutlej river, about Multan and between the Sutlej 

 and Indus. It has not been found, however, wild on any of the other Panjab 

 rivers in the Himalaya or along their upper course in the plains. It has been 

 reported from Lahoul ; but Dr Stewart, who botanised over both branches of the 

 Chenab in that district, the Chandra and Bagha, to the upper limit of trees, 

 never found it, nor was it reported by the Rev. H. Jseschke. It is commonly 

 planted in gardens and on roadsides in the plains of the Panjab, and thrives well. 

 The tree is indigenous in Afghanistan (abundant near Kandahar), in Songaria, 

 on the Sir Daria in Turkestan (Fedtschenko), in Kurdistan, on the Euphrates 

 and Tigris, between Shiraz and Aboushir in Persia, in Central Arabia, along the 

 river Jordan in Palestine, and along ravines in the hills of Oran in Algeria 

 (Bourgeau). On the banks of rivers, which form its principal habitat, the tree 

 is often gregarious. It is nearly leafless from Jan. to March, and flowers in Feb., 

 the seeds ripening between April and June. While in flower it is either leafless 

 or with a few old leaves left. 



In the Sindh forests the tree attains 40-50 ft., and a girth of 5-8 ft. ; the 

 trunk is regularly shaped, but not very straight. In Ladak it is 20 ft. high, 

 with a girth of 3-4 ft. Bark ^ in. thick, marked with irregular vertical furrows ; 

 inner bark fibrous. Where the tree is subject to inundation, the lower part 

 of the trunk often gets covered with short horn-like roots, similar to what is 

 seen on Willows, and from the wood of the trunk short hard spine-like pro- 

 cesses are often found projecting into the inner part of the bark, as in Ulmus 

 (p. 434). The wood is harder and more compact than that of the preceding 

 species ; the outer wood is whitish, the inner reddish with dark-brown veins, 

 nearly black in old trees. The medullary rays are fine, numerous, the pores 

 are much larger than in nigra and alba, they are uniformly distributed, solitary 

 or in groups of 2-5. In the South Panjab the wood is only used for the lining 

 of walls, but in Sindh it is employed largely for beams, rafters, panelling, and 

 turnery. Most of the lacquered Sindh boxes are made of this wood. On the 

 Euphrates and Tigris it is also used for planking and boat-building. It is em- 

 ployed as fuel for domestic use in Sindh and the South Panjab. The heating 

 powers are not great, and it is therefore not much used for the river steamers ; 

 but .in Ladak, where fuel is very scarce, it is much prized. The leaves fur- 

 nish fodder for goats and cattle, and the tree is lopped occasionally for that pur- 

 pose both in the plains and in Tibet. Gun-match is made of the inner bark in 

 Sindh, and the bark is given as a vermifuge. The tree grows rapidly (3-4 rings 

 per in. of radius), the annual rings are often unequal in width ; it throws out 

 numerous root-suckers, and becomes troublesome in gardens. It coppices vig- 

 orously ; in Sindh coppice-shoots are often used for rafters, and it bears pollard- 

 ing for a long time. 



4. P. ciliata, Wall, j Eoyle 111. t. 84a. y e rn. Sufeda, bagnu, phalja, 

 phlassu, falls, phalsh, ban phrastu, dud pliras, asdn, malt, rilckan, said, 

 pdbe, chanun, Jcrammal, Pb. 



