Equisetum fluviatile (Water horsetail)

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Equisetum fluviatile L.

Water horsetail, swamp horsetail

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Equisetophyta	Horsetails, which date back to the Devonian era
Class	Equisetopsida	Horsetails, spore-bearing plants related to ferns
Order	Equisetales	Living horsetails (most are extinct)
Family	Equisetaceae	Living horsetails
Genus	Equisetum	From equus, horse; and seta, bristle
Species	fluviatile	Latin for “pertaining to rivers”

About plant names...

Water horsetail is the smoothest of the horsetails. Fluviatile is Latin for “pertaining to rivers,” and this horsetail is common in wet, shallow, marshy areas. Like other horsetails, water horsetails have a remarkably high silica content, making them abrasive enough for scouring or sanding.

Plants: Water horsetails occur in dense colonies, where they may be unbranched or multiply branched. Fertile and sterile stems look the same. They are 14-46" (35-116 cm) tall, with dark green stems ¹/₁₆-¼" (2-8 mm) in diameter. If branches are present, they are less than 3" (7.6 cm) long, with 8 or fewer nodes. Each segment boundary is ringed by a series of tiny, black-tipped scale leaves. The stems of water horsetails are entirely hollow, and smoother than those of marsh horsetails. The stems pull apart easily at the joints.

See Equisetum for a comparison chart.

Leaves: Each stem node is wrapped with tiny, black, sharp-tipped scale leaves. Branch nodes also have miniscule leaves that appear as black dots. The leaves do not perform photosynthesis; this is done by the stem and branches.

Fruits: The spore-bearing, conelike strobili are yellow-green, ⅜-¾" (1-2 cm) long.