200 



Salsola verrucosa M. B. 

 A shrub attaining the heiglit of about one metre, and 

 most frequently found in the clay-desert. The cylindrical 

 leaves soon fall off, and during summer the, main assimilating 

 organs of the plant are the subtending leaves and bracts of 

 the flowers which as fleshy, spoon-shaped scales, three to- 

 gether enclose the flowers. The plant is thus what we have 

 called (p. 71) a bracteole-succulent. Small globular short- 

 shoots with 3 to 5 leaves are sometimes seen replacing the 

 flowers. 



The year-shoots are branched, sometimes twice branched. 

 The branches, especially those of 

 secondary (or tertiary) order bear 

 flowers so close together that the 

 branches are hidden. The tips of the 

 year-shoots and all the secondary 

 branches die away before the next 

 vegetative period. 



Salsola verrucosa flowers in sum- 

 mer. The fruit is of the ordinary 

 Salsola type. 



The anatomy of the foliage leaves 

 was not examined. The bracteoles 

 have green tissue of the usual type 

 on the outer (under) side (fig. 41). 

 On the inner (upper) side the aque- 

 ous tissue is bounded by a thin epidermis. 



Fig. 41. Salsola verrucosa. 



Transverse section from the 



underside of a bracteole. 



X 202. 



Haloxylon Ammodendron (C. A. M.) Bge. (Saxaul). 



A shrub or tree thriving best on sand with a subsoil of 

 clay or lime. It may become very old (see B. Jonsson p. 8) 

 and may attain considerable dimensions, but large specimens 

 are rarely found as they are cut down for firewood by the 

 nomads (comp. above pp. 89 and 126). I have seen a thick- 

 stemmed tree which I estimated at 7 metres high. Aitchison 

 records a tree 14 feet high with a stem 12 feet in circum- 

 ference. The wood is known to be hard and heavy, and 

 old stems have deep irregular furrows. The roots are long, 



