- Horsetails are native to every continent except Antartica and Australasia.
- Horsetails date back to the Palaeozoic era which lasted from 541 to 252 million years ago. That means they were around before the dinosaurs!
- Horsetails are related to ferns.
- Equisetum is the only remaining species of horesetail.
- Equisetum is sometimes called a living fossil.
- Equisetum is also called horsetail, snake grass, scouring rush and puzzlegrass.
- Eating too many horsetails can kill horses.
- Horsetails evolved from plants that were 98 feet tall. Today’s horsetails are usually 1-2 feet although there is one in South America that grows to 32 feet..
- In many places, horsetails are considered invasive plants.
- Horsetails can be used to scrub metal.
- Horsetails were used to treat a variety of ailments during the Greek and Roman days.
- Some people use it to stop bleeding, as a diuretic or an astringent.
- Horsetails reproduce via spores rather than seeds.
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I originally wrote this post for the Pacific Northwest GreenFriends Newsletter, August 2017, page 25.