Thursday, June 21, 2007

Horsetails

I always called them horsetails

I like this photo. It has a soothing appearance and some geometrical form that appeals to me. I'm not sure what the botanical name for this plant is but when I was growing up there was a larger version that grew near damp areas that we called horstails. It grows in segments which you can pull apart and then reassemble like a puzzle.

I looked them up and here is the more scientific version courtesy of AquaPlant from Texas A&M:

"Equisetum hyemale

Horsetail is a very primitive perennial plant with dark-green hollow, jointed or segmented stems 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick with no true leaves. Stems may be singular or have whorls of branches. Only single stems produce the cone-shaped spore producing body at the tip. Horsetails can be standing in water or in wet areas. Horsetail stems contain silicon crystals (i.e. sand) embedded in its tissue. This gritty texture gives it a common name of "scouring rush"."

For the link click here.

5 comments:

Andree said...

A fascinating and beautiful plant. I can't figure out how you would put it together like a puzzle. Hope I run across it someday.

p said...

omg
that is a fascinating photograph. GOOD JOB really...i'm in awe!

Anonymous said...

This is probably one of my favorites of all your posts. I'm sure some would say it is a little over-exposed, but personally I would say it is perfect and I really like how the cat-tails seem to glow. Very good one here and very good background. Excellent post!

Anonymous said...

I am writing to request permission to use the horsetail picture on your blog as a background for a slide in my powerpoint presentation. I am a middle school science teacher and have created a powerpoint that includes a slide on horsetails. I would like to use this picture as the background for my horsetail slide. At the bottom of the slide, I will name your site as the source for the picture.

Thanks for your consideration!

Andrea Nissley
andnissley@aol.com
Middle School Science Teacher
Cornerstone Christian School

Unknown said...

Andrea--you may absolutely use my photo. I only ask that it not be used for any commercial purpose. Do you need me to send you a copy of the photo or can you copy it from my blog? I'd have to dig around to find the original photo and you can't download from my Flickr site because I have that function disabled.
I'll e-mail this response to you too.
Sarala Kron