Equisetum palustre L.
marsh horsetail
Equisetaceae (Horsetail family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
marsh horsetail
Equisetaceae (Horsetail family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial from a smooth rhizome.
Stems:
10-60 cm tall, 1-3 mm thick, their central cavitiy less than 1/2 the stem diameter, unbranched or branched with irregular whorls; the sheaths with 5-10 dark teeth with whitish papery margins; branches (when present) in irregular whorls, with 4-6 blunt ridges, their first internodes shorter than the corresponding sheaths.
Cones:
1-3 cm long, rounded at the tip.
Notes:
A hybrid with E. telmateia (E. x font-queri Rothm.) occurs rarely in BC (Cody & Britton 1989).
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Equisetum palustre
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
978 | 1 | 1841 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
5 | 0 | 100 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
225 | 0 | 355 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 4 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
141 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ICH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BAFA(4), BWBS(17), CWH(12), ESSF(15), ICH(25), IDF(7), MH(15), MS(9), PP(1), SBPS(5), SBS(24), SWB(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Marshes, swamps, stream banks and wet forests from the lowland and steppe to montane zones; infrequent in BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to VT, CT, MI, IL, MN, ND, MT, ID and CA; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Equisetum palustre var. americanum Victorin
Equisetum palustre var. simplicissimum A. Braun