EQUISETUM. 239 



Equisetums ; certainly it is extremely elegant in almost 

 all stages of its growth, and perhaps never more so than 

 shortly after the fertile stems, with their fructification still 

 perfect, have begun to develope their lateral branches. 

 Later in the season, these branches, which have from the 

 first a pendent tendency, droop around with exquisite grace 

 on all sides. Mr. Newman, in recording his impressions on 

 seeing it growing luxuriantly on a wooded hill-side near 

 Loch Tyne, observes : " Each stem had attained its full 

 development, and every pendulous branch its full length 

 and elegance. Altogether I could have fancied it a magic 

 scene, created by the fairies for their especial use and plea- 

 sure, and sacred to the solemnization of their moon-lit 

 revels. It was a forest in miniature, and a forest of sur- 

 passing beauty. It is impossible to give an adequate idea 

 of such a scene, either by language or illustration." 



But descending to sober realities. The creeping under- 

 ground stem of this Wood Horsetail is, like that of the 

 others, dark-coloured and branched, and produces from 

 its joints the slender fibrous roots which draw up nourish- 

 ment to the plant. The above-ground stems are erect, 

 and, in a certain sense, those of them which produce fructi- 

 fication, and those which are barren, are similar, except as 



