'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎138v] (281/862)

192 CLIMATE, VEGETATION, AND FAUNA
traversed by modern canals. Many areas, however, once cultivated
in the past, are now neglected and desolate and bear plant communi
ties of a purely secondary nature. Even in long abandoned areas, the
vegetation can be regarded as only semi-natural. Such waste places
along the rivers become covered in fairly dense communities of Pto-
sopis and the gorse-like camel thorn (Alhagi maurorwn), a small
much-branched prickly shrub with reddish pea-shaped flowers and
little twisted brown pods, which is better developed on more saline
soils. Liquorice may also be present where water is close at hand,
while, in the spring, grasses and other low annuals sprinkle the
ground.
Between the rivers south of Baghdad there are certain regions un
touched by periodic inundations about which little is known botanic-
ally. In all probability the vegetation resembles that of the Syrian
desert.
Saline areas are common on the lands that fringe the rivers, parti
cularly in the tidal region, and where the salt content is not too high
the following halophytes may occur: Arthrocnemum glaucum, Suaeda
vermiculata, and Atriplex tataricum. All are valuable grazing plants
for camels and sheep. Much of the grey-white silt desert that extends
from Basra to the sea glistens with salt and supports little but a few
scattered plants of camel thorn and here and there, perhaps, a solitary
halophytic shrub (photos. 75, 76, 179). Large tracts are quite devoid
of plant life. The spring aspect is equally depressing since the
mesophytic annuals cannot tolerate saline conditions. In the wet
season, in fact, the area is a sea of slate-grey mud.
Farther north, the soil becomes less saline, and in the Babylonian
plain lying between Babylon and Samarra, including the area around
Baghdad, and the Diyala river, the plain, although treeless and muddy,
develops a spring vegetation bright with flowers and green grass.
Wide stretches are sometimes covered with the red flowers of two
low annuals, Polygonum corrigioloides and Robbairea prostrata.
A good example of a secondary community following the abandon
ment of a cultivated area is seen covering large tracts of plain between
Baghdad and Falluja. The spring cover is rich and includes the fol
lowing annuals: stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium), a small prostrate
herb with dissected leaves and pinkish flowers; this is widely distri
buted and is a most valuable spring grazing plant. Feverfew {Matri
caria aurea), a small fragrant branched herb with finely cut leaves
and little conical heads of golden-yellow flowers; this also is common
and is a useful fodder plant. A dandelion-like plant, Leontodon