Equisetum.'] 
FERNS. 
SI 
Des. — Root black, branched. Stems erect, of a very dark green, 
without whorls of branches, hut forked and divided at the base, 2 to 
3 feet high, regularly and numerously furrowed. Sheaths 2 to 3 
inches distant from each other, very closely pressed to the stem, short, 
with a black rim at the top and bottom of each. Teeth of the scales 
black and deciduous. 
It is surprising that this plant, so valuable in a general as well as a commercial 
point of view, is not cultivated along our sandy coasts, where it would grow 
luxuriantly and rapidly, forming a strong embankment, and yielding a consider- 
able profit. The Dutch are well acquainted with the value of its long and 
matted roots in restraining the wasting effects of the ocean, which would soon 
undermine their dykes were it not for the Equisetum hyemale which is planted 
upon them. At the proper season it is cut down and exported to other countries, 
where its naked and flinty stems are used for polishing domestic utensils, 
furniture, marble, &c. It is here sold as Dutch rush, (not Dutch rushes, which 
are Scirpus glaucus, or sometimes Scirpus palustris ; the former being used for 
the bottoms of chairs, the latter by coopers to stop leakages.) 
So abundant is the silex upon both the inner and outer cuticle of the stem, 
that it is said the whole of its vegetable matter may be removed without de- 
stroying the shape of the plant. Every part of it is a very beautiful object 
under the microscope. 
Sit. — In woods and boggy places ; rather rare, particularly in the South. 
Had. —Eng. : Hawthorn Dean, Durham, Mr. T. II. Cooper. Scotswood 
Dean, near Newcastle, Mr. Bowman. Near Over, Cheshire, Mr. W. Wilson. 
Common near Halifax, Mr. R. Leyland. In a dell at Bitterley, below the Clee 
Hills, Salop. Forge valley, near Scarboro’, Yorkshire. In a small stream at the 
bottom of Grace Dieu Wood, Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, Rev. A. Bloxam. 
South Kent, Rev. G. E. Smith. — Wal. : Near Wrexham, Mr. J. E. Bowman. 
— Sco. : Edinburgh, in the stream just below Roslyn Castle, Mr. H. C. Watson. 
Moray and Rosshire, Rev. G. Gordon. Wood at Corra Linn, Lanarks, Mr. C. 
C. Babington. — Ire. : Tyrone, Mr. Shuttleworth. Wood at Leislip Castle, 
near Dublin. Powerscourt, and around Dublin, Mr. MacJeay. 
Geo. — All Germany, Holland, and Switzerland. From Canada to Virginia, 
and in Asia. 
