HORSETAIL FAMILY 



EQUISBTUM. Horsetail. 



The name is from the Latin, cqiius, horse, 

 and seta, bristle. 



These are Rush-like plants with grooved 

 stems, usually hollow, jointed, and bearing, in- 

 stead of leaves at the joints, a sheath, which is 

 divided into teeth corresponding to the number 

 of ridges in the stem. 



The spore-cases, adhere to the under side of 

 the shield-shaped scales of the spike. 



■WOOD HORSETAIL. 



Equisetuin sylTaticum. 



The sterile stems are usually twelve-furrowed, 

 with compound, rough, deflex'ed branches. 



The fertile stems appear first, with four or 

 five whorls of short branches at the base of the 

 sheaths, which are loose, about one or two 

 inches apart and cleft into several reddish teeth. 

 The spike at the summit is oval-cylindric in 

 form and one inch long. It withers soon after 

 maturity in May, leaving the stems to produce 

 whorls of herbaceous branches similar to the 

 sterile. The sterile stems are taller and more 



