horsetails
Equisetum
Equisetum (; horsetail) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. The oldest remains of modern Equisetum species first appear in the Early Jurassic.
The genus is near-cosmopolitan. In some areas the species are considered weeds or invasive. The plants are toxic, containing thiaminase, but have been prepared as food or folk medicine.
3 branches of this genus, most-observed first
See this branch on the Wheel of Life →
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Book of Herbs
Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) · 1546 · p.560
Musurgia Universalis, Vol. II
Athanasius Kircher · 1650 · p.442
Precursor to the Botanical Theatre
Caspar Bauhin · 1620 · p.32
On the Names of Plants
Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) · 1552 · p.764
Garden of Health (Hortus Sanitatis)
Jacob Meydenbach · 1491 · p.81
The Book of Health: The Art of Distillation
Brunschwig, Hieronymus · 1505 · p.168
Garden of Health
1507 · p.79
The Great Herbary with all the figures of the herbs
1532 · p.183
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1542 · p.356
Book of Herbs
Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) · 1546 · p.562
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1549 · p.354
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1549 · p.355
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Equisetum in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 47746.