What
are Horsetails?
Horsetails have been around for millions of years. They used to form a large portion of the Earth's vegetation, and have been around for a lot longer than the flowering plants.
There are only 30 different species of Horsetail alive today, compared to many types of fern, and thousands of types of flowering plant.
The forests used to be dominated by Horsetail plants. Another group of ancient simple plants, the mosses and liverworts also used to be plentiful a long time ago.
Horsetails have hollow, jointed stems, which are clothed in places by a short collar-like sheath. In some Horsetails, the top of the plant carries a little cone, covered with close-fitting scales. The underside of each scale is covered with lots of tiny spores. These cones are unlike those produced by conifers, because the Horsetail cones produce spores instead of seeds.
Fun Fact:
The
side branches of Horsetails are jointed. If you pull one of the branches
off at the joint, it is possible to slip it back on again, albeit temporarily.
Perhaps "Lego Plant" is an appropriate name for the Horsetail.
You can now explore:
Field Horsetail
This is a tall Horsetail. It can grow to 80 cm
in height. It is very common, and can be found in fields, roadsides,
open waste-ground, dry riverbanks and dunes, amongst other places.
Marsh Horsetail
Marsh Horsetail is usually between 10-60 cm high.
It has many branches, bunched together in little whorls. There are little
green teeth with white tips, found circling the stem where the branches
grow. It can be found in wet meadows, at the side of streams, and other
wet areas.
Great Horsetail
This is the largest Horsetail to be found in
Britain. Its central stem is smooth, ivory-white and brittle. The little
teeth on the stalks of the Great Horsetail are brown. It likes to grow
in wet woodlands, marshes and on clay sea cliffs. It also likes to grow
where lime-rich water emerges from underwater springs.
