AA — 
finish the aerial period of their life before the end of June 
and thus belong to the mesophytic aspect of the vegetation, 
whereas many Rhizome-geophytes are very xerophytic e. g. 
Heliotropium, Cressa, Aristida, Elymus, Dodartia. The Irises 
and some others are mesophytic. 
The natural order Liliaceae consists entirely of geophytes. 
(Table 5). The grasses include some very important and 
characteristic desert-forms of geophytes: Aristida, Elymus, 
Aeluropus and several species on the river-banks e. g. Phrag- 
mites, Saccharum, Calamagrostis pseudophragmites. The Borra- 
ginaceae include important species of Heliotropium. Most of 
the orders have no geophytes at all. (Table 5). 
There are few Chamaephytes in the Transcaspian desert. 
Assuming that the classification of growth-forms is correct, 
52 species belong to this type, all undershrubs with the 
exception of Nanophytum erinaceum, which is rather a 
cushion-plant. The aerial shoots of such chamaephytes die 
back until near the surface of the soil, and the buds for 
rejuvenation are situated at the base of the lignified and 
persistent stems. This is also the case with Capparis spinosa 
and Hulthemia berberifolia, but the shoots of these lie pro- 
strate on the ground as in the more typical chamaephytes. 
The species given in the list as Chamaephytes are 
generally desert-plants, with green shoots which live through 
the whole summer and contribute to the xerophytic aspect. 
More than half of them — at least 29 — flower after July 1. 
Some species play a rather prominent part in the desert, 
thus Anabasis salsa, Arthrophytum, Noaea spinosissima, Arle- 
misia, Convolvulus erinaceus and fruticosus, Alhagi, Psoralea 
drupacea, Hulthemia berberifolia, Haplophyllum obtusifolium, 
Reaumuria squarrosa and Stellera Lessertti. These chamae- 
phytes seem to have attained a high degree of adaptation to 
desert-life. The generally follow the clay-soil although some 
of them appear on the less fugitive sandy soils (Convolvulus 
erinaceus ). 
Although there are relatively few Chamaephytes in the 
Transcaspian desert (7 per ct.), they are far more numerous 
there than in temperate countries. Denmark for instance 
has only 3 per ct. But if we go southwards from Transcaspia 
