Common Name:
Horsetail Fern
Field Horsetail

Scientific Name:
Equisetum arvense L.

Family:
Horsetail (Equisetaceae)

Plant Description:
Horsetail fern is a perennial plant reaching from 12-24 inches in height. Plants have green stems which may be vegetative or reproductive. The plant reproduces by rhizomes and by spores. Reproductive uprights are long jointed shoots which are easily separated. Fruiting heads are small pine cone-like structures which contain many spores. Sterile stems have smaller joints with lateral branches in a whorled arrangement around the stem.

Remarks:
Horsetail Fern is commonly found throughout the state. It prefers moist, well drained, sandy, or gravely soils. On cranberry marshes it is often found growing along dikes and in sandy voids in cranberry beds.