EQUISETUM. 
205 
minates in a toothed sheath. The fructification is con- 
tained on capsules arranged in cones. The outer skin 
of the stems abounds in flinty particles, placed in rows, 
which form ridges up the stem, the hollows between 
these ridges contain minute openings, or stomata . 
Name from equus , horse, and seta , hair. 
58. Equisetum Telmateja, Elirb. Great Water 
HorsetaiL 
Barren stems stout, smooth. Bibs numerous. Branches sim- 
ple and oblique. Sheaths short. Fertile stems short. Sheaths 
large and loose. Cone very large. 
The greater Water Horsetail has a brown creeping 
caudex, which throws out whorls of fibrous roots at short 
distances. The stems are of 
two kinds, a third kind, unit- 
ing the peculiarities of the 
two, sometimes appearing late 
in the season. 
The barren stems are erect 
and stately, making, as Sir J. 
Smith says, “ a magnificent 
and Indian-like appearance.” 
They are clothed from the 
summit to near the base with 
whorls of crowded branches, 
the branches from thirty to 
forty in each whorl, varying 
in direction from oblique to horizontal. The stems are 
thick and smooth, and the numerous ribs are very slight. 
The sheaths are close-fitting, divided at the margin into 
slender teeth, the same in number as the ribs of the 
stem, and the branches in the whorl. Each branch is 
