270 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. {N.S., XV, 
few widely esuheainn springs, - water of which is usually 
or less saline, and numerous dry river-beds, filled very 
rarely by torrents of mates due ‘ storms. Plants were collec- 
ted at two places in the desert, at Hurmuk in the south-east 
and at Lab-i-Baring in the west. As Hurmuk is supplied by a 
copious spring of fresh water which forms a small rivulet, it is 
perhaps a less typical desert locality than Lab-i-Baring, where 
the water (which is abundantly present) is confined to the bed 
of the Hamun, and considerable differences may be noted in 
vegetation, though in both places the influence of the water on 
plant- sei is restricted to its immediate vicinity and the soil a 
few yards from it is apparently as dry and as barren as it is 
a mile dietake. Our remarks refer cy so far as the desert 
vegetation is concerned, to Lab-i-Baring, where a much larger 
collection was made. 
At this place the dominant family in the desert vegetation 
is undoubtedly the Chenopodiaceae and the dominant genus 
Salsola. It is, therefore, particularly unfortunate that the 
species of this genus cannot be identified completely owing to 
lack of a for comparison in Calcutta. 
ugh possessing for the most part extremely thick 
stems “ih of the plants of this vegetation are large enough 
to be called shrubs. In addition to woody stems they 
n consid 
found in all families except the grasses. The plant in most 
cases belongs to one of two types. It either forms an extreme- 
ly dense bushy mass or else’lies quite flat on the ground with 
the branches entirely horizontal at right angles to the tap- 
root. Most of the species of Salsola belong to the former 
type, of which Launaea spinosa is a particularly good os 
In this species the branches are intertwined in a complex 
8 
grow upright and produce a switch-like mass. Of the type of 
plant with flat horizontal branches good examples are Euphor- 
bia ganulata, the local form of Cressa cretica and Schweinfur- 
thia spherocarpa. The two former species have very small 
leaves closely pressed together, while those of the last are com- 
paratively large, fleshy, broad and spreading, Forms intermedi- 
ate between the two types of habit are not uncommon, for 
example Fagonia Bruguieri, the main branches of which are 
entirely horizontal, but send up short spiny twigs in such a 
way that the plant is sometimes almost globular, and Heliotro- 
pium arbainense, the flat but dense tufts of which have quite 
an alpine appearance. The grasses of the desert also form 
m 
Only two species were collected, in one of which (Aristida plu- 
mosa) the inflorescence is very delicate and grows on a slender 
