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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.
It is an evergreen herbaceous perennial plant, with green stems, each stem usually topped by a spore-bearing strobilus.The stems, produced in late spring and dying down a year and a half or two years later, are 18–150 cm (7.1–59.1 in) (occasionally to 220 cm (87 in)) tall and 6–18 mm (0.24–0.71 in) diameter, usually unbranched; they are ridged, with 14–50 ridges, and bear whorls of ...
The side branches are slender, dark green, and have 1–8 nodes with a whorl of five scale leaves at each node. [citation needed] The water horsetail has one of the largest central hollow of the horsetails, with 80% of the stem diameter typically being hollow. [3] Equisetum fluviatile – a broken stem with the central hollow exposed.
The plants have intercalary meristems in each segment of the stem and rhizome that grow as the plant gets taller. This contrasts with most seed plants, which grow from an apical meristem - i.e. new growth comes only from growing tips (and widening of stems). Horsetails bear cones (technically strobili, sing. strobilus) at the tips of some stems.
Make sure you know what these plants look like and where you can find them. This guide includes common plants that are toxic to the touch and to eat.
The Fix: If the leaves are falling over because of root rot or the plant is root-bound, repotting it is the best solution. "Snake plants should be repotted every three or four years," says Langelo.
Equisetaceae is the only surviving family of the Equisetales, a group with many fossils of large tree-like plants that possessed ribbed stems similar to modern horsetails. Pseudobornia is the oldest known relative of Equisetum ; it grew in the late Devonian , about 375 million years ago and is assigned to its own order.