The Genus Equisetum
Family Equisetaceae
Equisetum is a small genus that ranges around the world. Various references offer numbers of ten to thirty species. Equisetum scirpoides , from the northern United States and Canada, grows to about one foot tall. At the other end of the spectrum, a giant horsetail species in tropical America is reported to grow to twenty feet tall or more.
The horsetail family has a single genus, Equisetum. Species in this family reproduce by spores, like ferns and club mosses.
The horsetail family has a single genus, Equisetum. Species in this family reproduce by spores, like ferns and club mosses.
Equisetum hyemale
Equisetum hyemale (UNF)
scouring rush
This is an evergreen herbaceous perennial with upright stalks to about three feet tall. The leaves are fused into a gray sheath on young shoots. The sheaths fall off leaving nodes or rings along the stem. Spores are borne in cone-like structures at the tops of fertile stalks. It grows well in full sun in wet to moist soils and can tolerate periods of drought once established. This plant is widely dispersed naturally through Asia, Europe, and North America. In the garden, this plant can spread very aggressively by underground rhizomes. It is recommended for zones 4 to 9.
I see this plant occasionally in local nurseries, usually in water garden sections. It is propagated very easily by division.
I grow this plant in containers without drain holes, to hold water and to minimize its chances to escape into the garden.
This is an evergreen herbaceous perennial with upright stalks to about three feet tall. The leaves are fused into a gray sheath on young shoots. The sheaths fall off leaving nodes or rings along the stem. Spores are borne in cone-like structures at the tops of fertile stalks. It grows well in full sun in wet to moist soils and can tolerate periods of drought once established. This plant is widely dispersed naturally through Asia, Europe, and North America. In the garden, this plant can spread very aggressively by underground rhizomes. It is recommended for zones 4 to 9.
I see this plant occasionally in local nurseries, usually in water garden sections. It is propagated very easily by division.
I grow this plant in containers without drain holes, to hold water and to minimize its chances to escape into the garden.