THE HORSETAILS. 



6i 



the soil, perliaps because the overlying water makes it 

 unnecessary by keeping out the frost. As the aerial 

 stems rise through the mud, they send out roots from 



the ba.sal joints, and it is pro- 

 bable that if the entire stem 

 was buried in the mud it 

 would promptly take up the 

 offices of a rootstock. Branches 

 of the rootstock sometimes 

 produce tubers which are de- 

 scribed as " about the size of a 

 nutmeg, but shaped like a fig." 



SECTION OF STEM. ^^""^^ =^ '^"^^'^ '^^^^ ^eeo found 



on a single branch. 



This species has very little silica in its outer coat and 

 is one of the smoothest of the equisetums. It is readily 

 ■eaten bj' cattle, and is said to be fed to cows in Sweden 

 to increase the flow of milk. In Lapland, reindeer eat it 

 even when dried, though they will not touch hay, and 

 Linnaeus recommended that it be gathered and preserved 

 with reindeer-moss for winter use. When abundant it 

 is occasionally cut for hay in America. According to 

 Haller, the Romans were accustomed to eat it. Musk- 

 rats are very fond of the young stems and often work 

 much havoc among them just as they are pushing up to 

 the surface of the water. 



The water horsetail extends from Virginia, Kansas, 

 and Washington to the far North, being not uncommon 

 in the northern United States, though not always present 

 in what appear to be favourable 4ocations for it. While 

 it prefers to grow in several inches of water and is com- 

 monly found in the quiet reaches of shallow, slow- 

 moving streams or on the margins of lakes and ponds, it 



