Equisetum variegatum

Variegated Scouring Rush

Variegated Scouring Rush
Photo Courtesy Wisconsin State Herbarium and William S. Alverson

Flora, fauna, earth, and sky...
The natural history of the northwoods

Name:

• Equisetum, from the Latin, equus, "horse", and seta, "bristle, animal hair"
• variegatum, from the Latin, variego, "to make or be different colors, to variegate"
• Scouring Rush, a reference to its early use for cleaning pots, made possible by its high silica content. Variegated, from the distinctive black and white leaf sheaths.
• Other common names include Variegated Horsetail, Prêle Panachée (Qué), Smalfräken, Fjällfräken (Swe), Fjellsnelle (Nor), Liden Padderok (Dan), Kirjokorte (Fin), Beitieski (Is), Bunter Schachtelhalm (Ger), Tarka Zsurló (Hun), Chishimahimedokusa (Jpn)

Taxonomy:

• Kingdom Plantae, the Plants
• Division Equisetophyta, the Horsetails
• Class Equisetopsida, the Horsetails
• Order Equisetales, the Horsetails
• Family Equisetaceae, the Horsetails
• Genus Equisetum, the Horsetails
• Subgenus Hippochaete, the Scouring Rushes
• Taxonomic Serial Number: 17149
• Also known as Equisetum tenue, Hippochaete variegata

Description:

• A perennial, tufted scouring rush of the north and far north, with very slender stems to 18" tall.
• Stem dark green, erect, straight, and rather stiff, evergreen; conspicuously jointed with 3-12 ridges, matching the number of sheath teeth at each node. Central hollow 1/3 or less the diameter of stem; vallecular channels large. Plants prostrate (under 6") and wiry in form in the high Arctic regions.
• Leaf Sheaths membranous; black at the base with prominent white margins, 3-12 teeth.
• Rootstalk semi-exposed near surface; slender, dark, creeping; 0.5–1.5 mm wide.
• Roots black to very dark brown.
• Cones with pointed apex, maturing late summer to shed spores in spring

Identification:

• Identifiable as a Horsetail by the upright, hollow, jointed, cylindrical stems with inconsequential and easily overlooked leaves.
• Distinguished from similar, unbranched Horsetails (Scouring Rushes) by its distinctive
  • Common Scouring Rush (Equisetum hyemale) has distinctive, ashy grey bands at stem joints.
  • Smooth Scouring Rush (Equisetum laevigatum) has dark bands at stem joints.
• Field Marks
  • black and white leaf sheaths

Distribution:

• Circumpolar; Aleutians across the Canadian Arctic to Newfoundland and Greenland, south to Oregon, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and New York.
• Also Europe and northern Asia, east to Kamchatka.

Habitat:

• Lakeshores, riverbanks, ditches, wet meadows, wet woods, marshes, calcareous sands, marly bogs, and tundra.

Fire:

Associates:

• Shrubs: Common Juniper (Juniperus communis), Sand Cherry (Prunus pumila), Willows (Salix spp.)
• Herbs: Beach Wormwood (Artemisia campestris), Alpine Milk Vetch (Astragalus alpinus), Wooly Beach Heather (Hudsonia tomentosa)
• Grasses: Canada Wild Rye (Elymus canadensis)

History:

Uses:

Reproduction:

• Reproduces by spores and vegetatively by rhizomes
• Primarily reproduces by vegetative means; the majority of shoots arising from rhizomes.

Propagation:

• By rhizome division

Cultivation:

• Hardy to USDA Zone 1 (average minimum annual temperature in excess of -50ºF)
• Cultural Requirements
• Sun to part shade
• Constantly moist
• Fertilization unnecessary
• Good for bog gardens, pond margins, and naturalizing low, wet areas.
• Available by mail order from specialty suppliers.

Links:

• Den Virtuella Floran, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm

Comments: