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The green stems grow 50–150 cm tall and 2–8 mm thick. The leaf sheaths are narrow, with 15-20 black-tipped teeth. [2] Many, but not all, stems also have whorls of short ascending and spreading branches 1–5 cm long, with the longest branches on the lower middle of the stem.
The plant is well identifiable from the 3-6 reddish brown leaf sheaths or "teeth". [1] [3] The fertile stems are shorter than the others; on these develop the cones that bear the spore casings or strobili. [1] The leaves develop on the fertile stems and the stems lengthen; then the cones open to release their spores. The cones then drop off.
Equisetum (/ ˌ ɛ k w ɪ ˈ s iː t əm /; horsetail) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. [2]Equisetum is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass Equisetidae, which for over 100 million years was much more diverse and dominated the understorey of late Paleozoic forests.
Equisetum arvense, the field horsetail or common horsetail, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the Equisetidae (horsetails) sub-class, native throughout the arctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It has separate sterile non-reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems growing from a perennial underground rhizomatous stem system.
All extant species of Equisetum are herbaceous, and have lost the ability to produce secondary growth. [5] The underground parts of the plants consist of jointed rhizomes, from which roots and aerial axes emerge. The plants have intercalary meristems in each segment of the stem and rhizome that grow as the plant gets taller. This contrasts with ...
Equisetum laevigatum is a species of horsetail in the family Equisetaceae. [2] [3] It is known by the common names smooth horsetail [4] and smooth scouring rush. This plant is native to much of North America except for northern Canada and southern Mexico. It is usually found in moist areas in sandy and gravelly substrates. It may be annual or ...
Equisetum palustre, the marsh horsetail, [2] is a perennial herbaceous pteridophyte belonging to the subclass of horsetails (Equisetidae). It is widespread in cooler regions of Eurasia and North America .
Equisetum hyemale (rough horsetail [2]) is an evergreen perennial herbaceous pteridophyte in the horsetail family Equisetaceae native to Eurasia and Greenland. It was formerly widely treated in a broader sense including a subspecies (subsp. affine ) in North America, but this is now treated as a separate species, Equisetum praealtum .