— 185 — 
be distinguished from A. Lehmanni, is more thorny, the 
petiolar rachis-thorn being longer, while the stipules are 
always present as thorns. A. Eichwaldi is a stunted, closely 
branched shrub with two pairs of leaflets. Biologically these 
species are closely related. 
Ammothamnus Lehmanni Bge. 
This I have not examined in its habitat, and only know 
from herbarium-specimens and descriptions. It is a shrub 
scarcely attaining the height of one metre. The leaves which 
have small linear stipules are long and pinnate with 7—13 
leaflets. These are obovate, cuneate at the base and broad, 
but small (less than one centimetre long). They are green, 
but like the year-shoots are provided with stiff hairs. The 
distal part of the year-shoot dies away (always?), and the 
new shoots arise from the apex of the surviving part. The 
white flowers are arranged in a raceme, they come out in 
April. The fruit is a long velvet-haired pod, spirally twisted, 
and containing many seeds. 
The leaves are isolateral in structure with stomata on 
both sides, 3—4 layers of short palisade cells on each side 
and almost devoid of spongy mesophyll. 
Smirnowia turkestana Bge. 
A shrub attaining the height of about 1 metre. It is a 
true desert-plant and is most frequently found on clayey 
soil. The outer bark peels off the older branches in long 
shreds and then the branches turn yellowish. A coat of 
hairs makes all the younger parts look greyish. The leaves 
are simple and almost circular with a diameter not exceeding 
1,5 centimetres. As a result of the petioles turning or bending, 
the leaves assume a vertical position. 
The year-shoots are branched, many of the axils bearing 
rather short leafy branches which only live through one 
vegetative period; they are thus true assimilation-branches. 
The distal part of the year-shoot itself is also annual; 
sometimes only a very short piece at the base survives. The 
