Equisetum (Horsetail)

Equisetum

Horsetail

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Equisetophyta	Horsetails, which date back to the Devonian era
Class	Equisetopsida	Horsetails, spore-bearing plants related to ferns
Order	Equisetales	Living horsetails (most are extinct)
Family	Equisetaceae	Living horsetails
Genus	Equisetum	Living horsetails

About plant names...

Horsetails are an ancient group of plants, little changed over 300 million years. The genus Equisetum means “horse bristles,” and refers to the plant’s unusually high levels of silica, which make it abrasive enough to serve for scouring, sanding, or polishing. Although Equisetum includes all the now-living relatives of these plants, extinct relatives reached 100' (30 m) in height as far back as the Carboniferous era.

Identification: For excellent comparison photos, see sophy.u-3mrs.fr.

Here are comparisons among the horsetails we have so far:

Species not yet identified · Equisetum variegatum, variegated horsetail. · 8/21/2003 · Chandos Lake, Ontario, Canada · By Janet Novak

	*Equisetum arvense*	*Equisetum fluviatile*	*Equisetum palustre*
Name	Field Horsetail	Water Horsetail	Marsh Horsetail
Leaves	Photo by Enrico Blasutto.	Tiny black scale leaves surround each segment of the stem. Cropped from a photo by Luc Viatour.	The ring of small black zig-zags are leaves. Photo by Kristian Peters.
Stem	Fertile stems, which have no branches, are up to 12" (30 cm) high; sterile stems up to 24" (60 cm), multiply branched, with upward-pointing needle-like branches.	12-48" (30-121 cm) high, stems hollow, easily squeezed, usu. about ¼" (6.3 mm) in diameter. Smoother and hollower than other horsetails.	Usually short, less than 24" (60 cm), only about ⅛" (3.2 mm) in diameter, rough (though branches are fairly smooth). Sterile stems have a long thin tip above the branches. Fertile stems are less prominent but topped with cones. Branches begin partway up the plant, usually quite dense, sometimes sparse or absent.
Fruit	Fertile stems have cones 1-1½" (2.5-3.8 cm) long in the spring. Photo by Kristian Peters.	Cone about 1" (2.5 cm) long, yellowish-green. Photo by joelpk@flickr.	About 1" (2.5 cm) long. Photo by Petr Filippov.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Fields, woods, marshes, roadsides, especially damp areas in partial shade	Ponds, marshes, slow-moving water	Marshes, swamps, banks of streams, wet places
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild
Occurrence		Common, sometimes considered invasive	Relatively rare

	*Equisetum pratense*
Name	Meadow Horsetail
Leaves	This arresting photo shows the branching structure. The leaves are black, and barely visible. Photo by Luc Viatour.
Stem	Sterile stems up to 18" (45 cm), fertile stems 6-20" (15-50 cm). Branches are about 5" (12 cm) long. They have three sides in cross-section.
Fruit	Cones about 1" (2.5 cm), on very long stalks. Photo from sophy.u-3mrs.fr.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Moist woods, thickets, meadows
Type	Wild
Occurrence	Common

Equisetum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 13 Feb 2012.

Species not yet identified · 5/2/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 10 × 15" (26 × 39 cm) ID is tentative or incomplete