Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Equisetum sylvaticum
wood horsetail, woodland horsetail
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in the northeastern counties in Washington; Alaska to Washington, east across southern Canada and the northern United States to the Atlantic Coast; circumboreal.

Habitat: Shady coniferous forests, bog edges, and swamps

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Description:
General:

Rhizomatous annual, the stems dimorphic, the sterile ones 3-7 dm. tall, 10- to 18-ridged, the central cavity more than 1/2 the diameter of the stem; stomates in 2 bands in the furrows; sheaths of the sterile stems 4-12 mm. long, green, the teeth 2-7 mm. long, cohering in several broad, brown, papery lobes. Fertile stems appearing earlier than the sterile, usually with longer teeth and sheaths, at first simple and pale, becoming branched and green.

Leaves:

Branches whorled, solid, 4- to 5-angled, usually again branched, spreading to recurved, very slender, about 0.5 mm. thick.

Spores:

Cone deciduous, long-peduncled, blunt.

Accepted Name:
Equisetum sylvaticum L.
Publication: Sp. Pl. 2: 1061. 1753.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
(none provided)
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Equisetum sylvaticum in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Equisetum sylvaticum checklist entry

OregonFlora: Equisetum sylvaticum information

E-Flora BC: Equisetum sylvaticum atlas page

CalPhotos: Equisetum sylvaticum photos

22 photographs:
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