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Equisetum
Also called Scouring Rush, Scouringrush, Horsetails, Scouring Rushes
Equisetum, horsetail, is the only living genus in its family, a group of spore-reproducing, jointed, rush-like plants. The genus is near-cosmopolitan, and the commonly grown members are hardy perennials that like moist, marshy conditions, though some are invasive in the wild.
Equisetum (; horsetail) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. The oldest remains of modern Equisetum species first appear in the Early Jurassic.
The genus is near-cosmopolitan. In some areas the species are considered weeds or invasive. The plants are toxic, containing thiaminase, but have been prepared as food or folk medicine.
E. arvense contains thiaminase, which metabolizes the B vitamin, thiamine, potentially causing thiamine deficiency and associated liver damage, if taken chronically. Horsetail might produce a diuretic effect. Further, its safety for oral consumption has not been sufficiently evaluated and it may be toxic, especially to children and pregnant women.
If eaten over a long enough period of time, some species of horsetail can be poisonous to grazing animals, including horses. The toxicity appears to be due to thiaminase.
The genus Equisetum as a whole, while concentrated in the non-tropical Northern Hemisphere, is near-cosmopolitan, being absent naturally only from Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. They are most common in northern Europe, with ten species (E. arvense, E. fluviatile, E. hyemale, E. palustre, E. pratense, E. ramosissimum, E. scirpoides, E. sylvaticum, E. telmateia, and E. variegatum); Great Britain has nine of these species, missing only E. scirpoides of the European list. Northern North America (Canada and the northernmost United States), also has nine species (E. arvense, E. fluviatile, E. laevigatum, E. palustre, E. praealtum, E. pratense, E. scirpoides, E. sylvaticum, and E. variegatum). Only five (E. bogotense, E. giganteum, E. myriochaetum, E. ramosissimum, and E. xylochaetum) of the 18 species are known to be native south of the equator.
People have regularly consumed horsetails. The fertile stems bearing strobili of some species can be cooked and eaten like asparagus (a dish called tsukushi (土筆) in Japan). Indigenous nations across Cascadia consume and use horsetails in a variety of ways, with the Squamish calling them sx̱ém'x̱em and the Lushootseed using gʷəɫik, or horsetail roots, for cedar root baskets.
Field Horsetail · Southern Giant Horsetail · Rough Horsetail · Marsh horsetail · Dwarf scouringrush · Great Horsetail
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Equisetum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
