field horsetail
Family
EquisetaceaeScientific Name
Equisetum arvense
Other Common Names:
common horsetail
bottle-brush
devil's-guts
foxtail-rush
horse pipes
horsetail fern
marestail
meadow-pine
pine-grass
snake-grass
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Equisetum arvense var. boreale
Equisetum arvense var. campestre
Equisetum calderi
Equisetum arvense var. alpestre
Equisetum arvense var. riparium
Habit
Cones produce thousands of minute spores from mid-April to May. The fertile stems soon wither and die, giving way to the vegetative branched stems. Of primary concern are the rhizomes, which, along with starch-filled tubers, are easily spread by cultivation, in topsoil, and in infested balled and burlapped nursery crops.
Leaves
Small, scale-like and black-tipped.
Identifying Characteristics
Produces mainly by creeping rhizomes that bear tubers.
Flower Seed Head
Stems have cones which produce thousands of tiny spores.
Seed Fruit
Tiny spores
Where Found
Field horsetail is a common weed of landscapes, orchards, and nursery crops. It grows on many different soils but does particularly well on sandy soils, on neutral or slightly basic soils, and in areas where the water table is high and soil drainage is poor. It is also found in low meadows, pastures, small fruit crops, roadsides, woodlands, and embankments. Field horsetail is resistant to most herbicides used in agriculture.
Growth Habit
upright and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
not present
Leaf Hairs
no hairs
Leaf Shape
Varies:
needle,
triangle
Leaf Arrangement
whorled
Leaf Margin
entire
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
none
Stem Hairs
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
Varies:
fibrous,
rhizomes present
Life Cycle
perennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb