Rempt (_Haloxylon articulatum_) also occurs on the plain. This is a shrubby perennial (half shrub?) which is possibly the most often met of any species, or at least genus, in southern Algeria. It is capable of enduring very arid conditions, is unarmed, and is much eaten by all herbivorous animals. The plant will be figured and especially referred to later in this study, so that at this time only a brief definition will be given of its root-system, which is a typically generalized one, penetrating the ground fairly deeply if the character of the soil permits, but also lying near the surface; there is also a relatively large number of secondary and tertiary roots, characteristic of the generalized type.[9] Inspection of the soil showed it to be a sandy clay with a large percentage of pebbles and stones and with greater depth of earth in the hollows on the plain than on low ridges. It probably contains some gypsum, since an outcropping of it occurs on the southern face of the low mountains to the north. Taken as a whole, the soil appeared very like that of the plain by Tilrempt and Ghardaia, as well as between Ghardaia and Ouargla (Gantara). The soil will be described later in this paper. THE DUNES NEAR LAGHOUAT. Dunes are not present in large enough numbers, or of large enough size, to figure very prominently in the topography of the environs of Laghouat; but they occur both to the east and to the west of the town, those to the east being the larger. Sand is found facing the south side of the Rocher des Chiens, a rocky hill on the western edge of the oasis, and the south side of a portion of the Nomad Mountains, to the north. There is also a succession of low dunes between the Nomad Mountains and the oasis. The Rocher des Chiens dune is moving from west to east, but the dune along the face of the Nomad Mountains is probably stationary. The series of dunes on the plain are moving toward the northeast.