110 AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL 
line. Some of the plants found above timber line, espec- 
ially in the vicinity of snow banks, are nearly prostrate 
and very sparsely branched. This species is common 
about the east entrance, extending out upon the prairie. 
It seems to thrive particularly well upon railroad em- 
bankments, and a thick stand of the plants is often seen 
growing from dry gravel and cinders. 
Equisetum litorale Kiihl. Occasional at low altitudes, 
in wet ground or boggy thickets. 
Equisetum palustre L. Rare, apparently; a few plants 
at Belton in sand along the river. 
Equisetum variegatum Schleich. Common, especially 
at middle altitudes and above timber line; about pools, 
on lake shores, along streams, and in wet meadows or 
thickets, often in sand or gravel. It is especially abun- 
dant in the meadows above or near timber line, and fre- 
quently forms dense, almost pure stands of decumbent 
or ascending stems. Often it is seen growing up to the 
edges of snow banks. Sometimes it occurs about cul- 
tivated ground at low altitudes. 
Equisetum fluviatile L. Frequent at low and middle 
altitudes; in marshes, bogs, or swamps; in sphagnum bog 
at Fish Lake. The stems are long and weak and oc- 
casionally prostrate. In the marshes along Swiftcur- 
rent Creek below Lake McDermott this species is very 
abundant, growing in shallow water and forming dense 
pure stands. The stems are of a deep bright green, and 
at a short distance they strongly suggest those of Scirpus 
occidentalis. 
Equisetum praealtum Raf. Occasional at low altitudes, 
in willow thickets or on rocky lake shores. 
Equisetum kansanum Schaffner. Found only at the 
foot of Sherburne Lake, along a small gully in aspen 
woods. 
Equisetum hyemale L. Common at low altitudes, in 
swamps or wet thickets; occasionally found on open, 
well-drained banks. 
WasuHincTon, D. C. 
