Scientific name: Equisetum arvense
Family: EQUISETACEAE
Common names: “Horsetail” “Field horsetail”
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial weed, highly invasive tuber bearing root system
Conditions:
Light: Full sun – part shade
Exposure: Sheltered
Soil: Acidic
Moisture: Moist – wet and saturated soils with poor drainage
Aesthetic:
Leaf and Stem shape: Sterile stems with whorls of green four angled leaf like branches
Flower: Leafless fertile stems with a spore bearing cone on top
Maintenance: Improve drainage to help slow it down but they still spread in dry conditions, can help to remove it by “killing it with kindness” with an inch of agricultural lime and 2 inches of manure, some success may be achieved with vinegar spray, roundup will not work on these
Propagate: By every little piece of root and spores
Pests & Disease: Caribou, moose, sheep and bears eat this plant, for some grizzly bears it is the main part of their diet in June – July
Comments: Considered a living fossil, these plants are the most ancient of all species growing since before the dinosaurs when they were one of the first plants to dominate the planet growing to the size of trees, “If it’s in a garden there is a zero chance of getting rid of it” , horsetail accumulate large quantities of silica in their tissues, has been used traditionally for skin and hair herbal remedies
