THE HORSETAILS. 



HE separation of the Equisetaceae into 

 two divisions, called respectively the 

 Scourin;-Rushes and the Horsetails, is 



at best but an arbitrary classification. 

 The manner of growth, the structure 

 of the stem, and the method of fruit- 

 ing are the same in all, and they are 

 therefore properly placed in a single genus. There are 

 however, certain very noticeable characters by which 

 even the novice may separate them into the groups 

 mentioned, and in the popular mind they are usually so 

 separated. As treated in this book, the horsetails will 

 be considered as those species of Equisetum in which 

 the stems die at the approach of winter and the fruiting- 

 cones are without a terminal point. Their sterile stems 

 also usually produce regular whorls of branches, add the 

 fertile often do so. These form the section Euequisetum, 

 or Equisetum proper, of the systematist. 



The Field Horsetail. 



The field horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is without 

 doubt the most abundant species of Equisetum in the 

 world. Not only is it widely distributed, but wherever 

 it grows it usually occurs in the greatest abundance- 

 Normally a moisture-loving plant, it can adapt itself to 



