Ads
related to: horsetail herb uses
Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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 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. [3] [4]
The water horsetail has historically been used by both Europeans and Native Americans for scouring, sanding, and filing because of the high silica content in the stems. [citation needed] Early spring shoots were eaten. Poorer Roman classes at times ate them as a vegetable, despite not being very palatable or nutritious. [3]
It has been used as a "lung herb". [82] Other traditional uses include as an expectorant, astringent, and to treat bronchitis. [83] The essential oil of the plant has been used for centuries as a general tonic for colds and coughs, and to relieve congestion of the mucous membranes. Glycyrrhiza glabra: Licorice root
Equisetum praealtum, [1] the scouringrush horsetail, [2] is a species of Equisetum (horsetail) native to North America and northeastern Asia. [1] It was formerly widely treated as a subspecies or variety of the European and west Asian species Equisetum hyemale (rough horsetail), and still is by some authorities.
Ads
related to: horsetail herb uses