112 



below we have Glycyrrhiza glabra Aeluropus littoralis and 

 (according to LITWINOW) the Orchid Limodorum turkestanicum. 

 Interspersed among the Erianthus other tall plants may be 

 found: Phragmites, Elceagnus bushes, Calamagrostis pseudo- 

 phragmites, Tamarix hispida. Erianthus more frequently, 

 however, occurs here and there amongst other plants, the 

 tussocks standing singly or in groups among these. 



Glycyrrhiza glabra may here and there form pure or al- 



Figur 19. "Shar Togai", thicket on the left bank of the Amu Daria. In the 



background Tamarix and a tuft of Erianthus Ravennae, in the foreground 



Alhagi Camelomm, Lycium ruthenicum, Halostachys caspica. 



most pure thickets. The stems attain the height of a metre 

 (up to 1,5 metres), and stand close together borne on sub- 

 terranean horizontal runners, often several together as a 

 "radix multiceps." The species has pinnate leaves which at 

 night assume the sleep position, all the leaflets moving ver- 

 tically downwards, so that their lower surfaces touch. 



Besides Tamarix, Erianthus and Glychyrrhiza, the following 

 species occur on moist, but not wet or muddy soil: Saccharum 

 spontaneum, very striking in appearance with its shiny, snow- 

 white top at a height of about 2 metres from the ground; 

 Halimodendron argenteum, a thorny leguminous bush which 



