THE HORSETAILS 117 



number of teeth. A distinctive feature of the 

 Shade Horsetail is that the topmost whorls of 

 branches spread upwards in such a way that 

 they reach the summit of the stem ; there is no 

 long tapering point such as is to be seen in the 

 case of the Field Horsetail, for instance. The 

 result of this habit of growth is that the plant 

 has a curious flat-topped appearance ; it is on 

 this account that the species has received one 

 of its popular names. 



The Shade Horsetail grows in damp meadows 

 and very shady woods, though it is not common 

 in all districts. 



Equisetum sylvaticum. In this case the 

 specific name is taken from the Latin silva, 

 " a wood," and is a reference to the habitat of 

 the plant. The Wood Horsetail. 



This is one of the most beautiful of our 

 Horsetails. The plant has two kinds of stems, 

 both of which are ultimately branched. The 

 fertile stems put in an appearance first of all 

 in the early spring ; at this time these bear only 

 a cone and are without branches. With the 

 dispersal of the spores the cone shrivels up, and 

 then the stems starts to send out green branches. 

 These branches give off whorls of smaller 

 branches from their joints. In a general way 

 the stems of the barren shoots are not so 

 succulent as those which bear the cone ; the 

 barren stems, too, are somewhat taller and 

 branch more freely than the fertile ones. In 

 both barren and fertile stems are to be noticed 

 the whorls of small drooping branches which 

 give a characteristic appearance to the Wood 

 Horsetail, and by means of which it may 

 always be identified. The sheaths which enclose 

 the stem evidence three or four teeth, whilst 

 the terminal branches (which are three-ribbed) 



