I08 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND FERNS. 



applied to one species as strictly as is desirable, which goes 

 to show that there are people to whom botanical distinctions 

 between the species do not appeal, and to whom a Horsetail is 

 a Snake-pipe, whether it grows in the marsh or in the cornfield. 

 The Field Horsetail is found throughout our country from 

 Shetland to Jersey, from Suffolk to Ireland. In vertical range it 

 reaches to 2000 feet ; and its wider distribution includes Northern 

 Europe, Northern Asia, North Africa, the Himalaya, and North 

 America. 



Blunt-topped Horsetail (Eguisetum pratense). 



This Horsetail, which is closely related to the last species, 

 might easily be mistaken for it. The barren stems of the two 

 are much alike in general appearance, but whereas the Field 

 Horsetail usually has a length of bare "tail" above the 

 uppermost whorl of branches, in the present species the stem 

 ends abruptly at the last whorl, thus providing the blunt top 

 indicated by the name. There are other differences, of course, 

 to warrant separation as a distinct species. The stems are 

 much rougher, the 8 to 20 (usually about 20) ridges having 

 sharp points along the apex ; the colour of the frond is a 

 fuller green ; and the branches are more numerous, though 

 the lower part of the stem is bare. These branches are simple 

 like those of E. arvense, but they are less upright in growth and 

 more spreading ; they are slender and have either three or 

 four angles. 



The barren stems are from a foot to two feet in height ; their 

 sheaths very short, and the single ribs of their teeth do not 

 extend to their tips. 



The fertile fronds are only about six inches in length, 

 with long, lax, funnel-shaped yellowish-white sheaths, but no 

 branches. These stems are much stouter than the barren ones. 

 The sheaths are almost as long as the divisions of the stem, 

 which is almost hidden by them. The sheaths have between 



