Equisetum scirpoides

Equisetum, from the Latin , "horse", and , "bristle, animal hair". Scirpoides, from the Latin , "rush, bulrush". Scouring Rush, a reference to its early use for cleaning pots, made possible by its high silica content. Other common names include dwarf horsetail, sedge horsetail, prele faux-scirpe (Qué), tradfräken (Swe), dvergsnelle (Nor), trad-padderok (Dan), hentokorte (Fin), dwergholpijp (NL), himedokusa (Jpn), skrzyp arktyczny (PL). ==Distribution==

Austria, Finland, Norway, Spitsbergen, Sweden, Greenland, St. Pierre and MiqueIon, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, N.W.Territories, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Isl., Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Alaska, US (Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin), W-Siberia, C-Siberia, E-Siberia, Amur, Ussuri, Japan, Novaja Zemlja, Kamchatka, N-European Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, C-European Russia, E-European Russia. ==Subspecies==

Within Equisetum scirpoides there are two subspecies: • Equisetum scirpoides ssp. scirpoides (A. Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 281. 1803) ::Hippochaete scirpoides (Michaux, Farwell) – Main subspecies, grows up to about 30 cm. Low, slender, wiry, unbranched stems. Stems erect or prostrate, hollow, segmented, rough surfaced, green. Internodes about 4 apart with segments marked by ashy grey bands. Sterile and fertile stems alike. Twisting and wiry in form, branching rare. Sheaths tiny, 1 – 2.5 mm × 0.75 – 1.5 mm, with three teeth, dark with white margins. Cones usually 1 long with sharp pointed tips, borne on short stalks at the tips of fertile stems. Spores green, spheric. Rootstalk shiny black, creeping, freely branching, and wide spreading. Roots black to very dark brown. • Equisetum scirpoides ssp. walkowiaki (R. J. Walkowiak, IEA Paper 2008) ::Equisetum scirpoides (ssp.) minus (Lawson, Milde) – Smaller subspecies, grows up to about 15 cm. The botanical characteristics identical with the main subspecies. Often seen primarily as an ornamental plant in Japan. Subspecies described by Scottish botanist George Lawson and eminent German botanist Carl August Julius Milde, but without a proper taxonomic name, which gave the Polish botanist Radosław Janusz Walkowiak (subsp. walkowiaki). ==Identification==

Identifiable as a horsetail by the upright, hollow, jointed, cylindrical stems with inconsequential and easily overlooked leaves. Distinguished from other horsetails by its low, slender, wiry, unbranched stems and its small size. This is the smallest living horsetail. Field marks, diminutive size, low, slender, wiry, unbranched stems. ==See also==