Dig into Plants: Horsetail

Horsetail

Other Common Names: Scouring Rush, Scouring-rush Horsetail, Canuela

Scientific Name: Equisetum hyemale

Native to Alabama: Yes

 
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Alan Cressler
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Learn more about...
 
Basic Information
Classification Button
Maintenance
Adaptations Button
Plant ID
Life Cycle
 


 
Basic Plant Information
 
  • I am a vascular plant with no woody stems above ground, so I am herbaceous.
  • I keep leaves year-round, so I am evergreen.
  • I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial.
  • I can grow 2 - 4 feet high and 1 - 6 feet wide.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Sally and Andy Wasowski
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Ecological Benefits
 
 Tall stems are great cover for various kinds of wildlife, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects; dragonflies love perching on the stems
 
  

   
Maintenance Notes
  • Not dormant in the winter; Stems remain green.  
  • It is best to contain it in a pot with no holes and be watchful that it doesn’t creep over the edge; very aggressive grower.
  • When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds.  Water should reach all roots.
  • Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves.
  • Requires moist to wet soil at all times.
Moist to wet soil at all times: water three times per week.
 

  
Habitat Requirements
 
This plant prefers:
Full Sun
(6+ hours of sun per day)

Part Sun/ Shade
(2-6 hours of sun per day)

Shade
(Less than 2 hours of sun per day)
   Prefers moist to wet soil at all times





 
 Sandy, Loamy, Clay, Limestone,
or Moist Soil




 
 
 

   
  
Leaf, Flower & Seed Identification
 
LEAF DESCRIPTION
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Alan Cressler
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Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)
       
Shape:
Scale-like		 Margin:
Dentate		 Arrangement:
Whorled		 Form:
Fused
 
   
Description:
Reed-like, dark green stems are cylindrical, about 1/3-inch in diameter, jointed, mostly hollow, usually branched, and have rough horizontal ridges; leaves are reduced to node-scales, joined together around the stem at each joint, forming a narrow, black, sheath-like band ending in a fringe of teeth

   
 
FLOWER DESCRIPTION
Horsetail is not a flowering plant
 
 
SEED DESCRIPTION
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
R. W. Smith
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Type:
Spore-bearing cone		 Description:
No fruit or seeds; reproduces by spores in a pale yellow ovoid-shaped cone structure up to 1” long known as a strobilus which is located at the end of a fertile stem; sometimes older shoots will produces 1-4 cones around its stem rather than at the end; the cone has a short, narrow point at the tip; cones wither away after spore production ends		 Months in Seed:
Spores are released from late spring to mid-summer
     
Plant spreads by:
Spores and Rhizomes/ Tubers/ Roots & Shoots
Underground rhizomes spread and create new clumps of plants – spreads aggressively
       
 
 
Plant Life Cycle
   
Plant Life Cycle:
  • Horsetail plants reproduce by spores rather than seeds.
  • Spores are contained in cone-like spore cases at the ends of the stems.
  • The spores are dispersed by the wind.
  • When the spores land on a damp surface, they grow into small male and female structures.
  • Finally, when fertilization takes place, the plant will grow to form the visible stems used to identify the horsetail plant.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Lee Page
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
 
Quick Fact Sheet
(Condensed Species Info)		 QR Code
(Links to this Webpage)
   
Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Ready as-is PDF		 Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Editable Word Doc
   
Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Ready as-is PDF		 Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Editable Word Doc



  






 

INFORMATION SOURCES FOR THIS PLANT
 
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