Field Horsetail As an Herbal Remedy, This Plant Dates Back to Ancient Roman and Greek Medicine, and Has This Plant Is Not a Rush, Nor a Fern

Wildflower Spot – March 2014 John Clayton Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society

marshes, and moist to wet disturbed sites such Equisetum arvense asin floodplainditches and forests, roadsides. tidal Fieldswamps, Horsetail calcareous occurs all over North America and into Mexico. By Helen Hamilton, Past-president of the John Clayton Chapter, VNPS Field Horsetail As an herbal remedy, this plant dates back to ancient Roman and Greek medicine, and has This plant is not a rush, nor a fern. Equisetum is been used to stop bleeding, heal wounds, and to the single surviving genus of a class of primitive treat tuberculosis and kidney problems. Con- vascular plants, which included huge tree-like taining silicon, it has been suggested as a treat- species, dating back to 350 million years ago. ment for osteoporosis. Horsetails have been They are grouped with “fern allies” because, like found to accumulate traces of gold and have been assayed as a clue to its presence. reproduce by spores. Only four species of Equi- setumferns, theyare found do not in have Virginia, flowers, two nor in the seeds, moun and- The genus name comes from Latin equus, tain region, and one other in our area, Scouring “horse,” and seta, “bristle,” referring to the Rush (E. hyemale). coarse black roots of one species. The species name arvense, v Field Horsetail produces separate soft, light brown unbranched stems means “of cultivated fields.” early in the spring, with cones at the tips. After the spores are shed, the stems wither and green sterile stems start to grow, with their charac- teristic regular whorled branches, ascending to a foot tall. While these stems die back in winter, this is a pe- rennial, and will return in the spring from the wide-creeping rhizomes. With an extensive root system, the - cult to control in the home garden. plant can become weedy and diffi Native to nearly every county in Vir- ginia, this plant is found frequently

Photo: Field Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) taken by Helen Hamilton For more information about native plants visit www.vnps.org.