brilliantbotany: frenchrepublicancalendar: 6 Thermidor: Prêle…
6 Thermidor: Prêle (horsetail, scouring-rush, Equisetum spp.)
Okay, sweet, now we’re talking old. Not “domesticated for thousands of years” old, this is “hung out with dinosaurs” old. Equisetum is the only living genus of the family Equisetaceae…which is the only living family in the order Equisetales, which is the only living order in the class Equisetopsida. Its relative Calamites is off being coal now.
What is Equisetum up to these days? Oh, you know, the same old same-old. Reproducing by spores, coating their stems with silicates and being used as fine sandpaper or metal polish, invading New Zealand. Plant things. Horsetail things.
We have Equisetum hyemale in my area and it’s super cool. I have it in my plant collection, actually. It gets its name scouring rush because the coarse plant can be used to clean pots and the like when you’re camping.
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/59326181888.
