This paper gives a quantitative account of a recent study of vegetation-environment relationships along four transects crossing the northern part of the inland ariddesert of Egypt. The vegetation data set was based on cover values from 200 stands; environmental analysis included percentages of surface sediments of different size classes, soil pH, total soluble salts, soil moisture, organic carbon and calcium carbonate. TWINSPAN classification and complementary DCA analysis of the data set yielded 21 vegetation clusters, assigned to six vegetation types dominated by 27 indicator species: some are characteristic of specific habitats, and others indicate transitions between groups of habitats. Keywords: vegetation-environment relationships, multivariate analysis, arid ecosystems, Egypt, desert vegetation, diversity.