158 FLORA INDICA. 



is usually a hard clay, and water is only procurable at great 

 depths. East of the Satlej a sandy desert extends from Sirsa 

 as far as Marwar and the Run of Kaeh. The streams which 

 descend from the Himalaya and the western face of the Ara- 

 wali hills are all dissipated before they can mingle their 

 waters with the Satlej, and below Bahawalpur the desert ad- 

 vances close to the river. 



The vegetation of the Panjab varies with the climate. In 

 the southern part of the province, where little or no rain falls, 

 the flora is almost identical with that of Sindh ; but as the la- 

 titude increases and the mean temperature, and especially the 

 -winter temperature, diminishes, we find a gradual increase of 

 plants characteristic of the Mediterranean flora, which is fully 

 represented on the mountains of Afghanistan. These are, 

 however, chiefly winter-flowering annuals, such as GoJdbachia 

 laevigata, Franhenia puheridenta, Silene conica, Arenaria ser- 

 pyllifolia, Euphorbia Helioscopia, Carthamus oxyacantha, Ve- 

 ronica agrestis, Poa annua, and their number is not consider- 

 able. All the shrubby plants which give the character to the 

 vegetation are the same as those of Sindh. The extensive 

 tracts of low and scattered tree-jungle which occupy the dry 

 clay soil at a little distance from the river, even further to the 

 north and east than Lahore and Firozpur, consist chiefly of Cap- 

 paris aphylla, Acacia Arabica and leiccojjfilosa, Prosopis spici- 

 gera, Zizyphus Lotus, and Salvador a oleoides {S.Indica, Royle) . 

 Cocculus Lemba, a Senegal, Egyptian, and Sindh species, climbs 

 over the trees. Popxdus Euphratica forms thickets along the 

 Satlej, as far east as Bahawalpur, along with Tamarix Gallica, 

 which, however, is generally diffused over India. Berthelotia 

 lanceolata, a low shrubby plant, which is widely diffused over 

 the drier parts of Asia and Africa, covers large tracts, either 

 quite alone or interspersed with other plants. 



Nearer to the Himalaya, as the climate becomes moister, 

 the vegetation changes, the plants of the desert giving place 

 to those of the Gangetic plain. At Ludiana and Jalandhar 

 the shrubby vegetation is quite changed. Butea frondosa 



