Equisetum palustre, the marsh horsetail, is a plant species belonging to the division of horsetails (Equisetopsida

Equisetopsida

Equisetopsida, or Sphenopsida, is a class of plants with a fossil record going back to the Devonian. They are commonly known as horsetails...

).

Description

E. palustre is a perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 cryptophyte

Cryptophyte

Cryptophyte may refer to:*a plant which survives the unfavorable season underground or underwater in the Raunkiær plant life-form classification...

, growing between 10 to 50 centimeters (4" to 20"), in rare cases up to one meter (3'). Its fertile shoot

Shoot

Shoots are new plant growth, they can include stems, flowering stems with flower buds, and leaves. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop...

s, which carry ears

Ear (botany)

An ear is the grain-bearing tip part of the stem of a cereal plant, such as wheat or maize. It can also refer to "a prominent lobe in some leaves".The ear is a spike, consisting of a central stem on which grows tightly packed rows of flowers...

, are evergreen and shaped like the sterile shoots. The rough, furrowed stem is one to three mm in diameter with usually eight to ten ribs, in rare cases, four to 12. It contains whorled branches. The tight-fitting sheaths end in four to 12 teeth. The lower sheaths are dark brown and much shorter than the sheaths of the main shoot. The central and vallecular are about the same size, but the carinal channels are much smaller. The central channels measure about one sixth of the diameter of the stem.

The spore

Spore

In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...

s are spread by the wind (anemochory) and have four long ribbons attached to them. They sit on spore ears which are rounded on the top. Marsh Horsetails often form subterranean runners

Stolon

In biology, stolons are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external skeletons.-In botany:...

 and tuber

Tuber

Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...

s, with which they also can proliferate vegetative

Vegetative

Vegetative describes vegetation.Vegetative may also refer to:*Vegetative reproduction, a type of asexual reproduction for plants*Persistent vegetative state, a condition of people with severe brain damage...

ly.

Ecology

E. palustre is green from spring to autumn and grows spore

Spore

In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...

s from June to September. It grows primarily in nutrient-rich wet meadow

Wet meadow

A wet meadow is a semi-wetland meadow which is saturated with water throughout much of the year. Wet meadows may occur because of poor drainage or the receipt of large amounts of water from rain or melted snow. They may also occur in riparian zones....

s. It is found in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and the circumpolar

Subarctic

The Subarctic is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic and covering much of Alaska, Canada, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and northern Mongolia...

 region up to mountainous heights. Its distribution is declining. A specific plant association in which E. palustre is found is the Juncus subnodulosus-Cirsium palustre fen-meadow

Juncus subnodulosus-Cirsium palustre fen-meadow

The Juncus subnodulosus-Cirsium palustre fen-meadow is a plant association characteristically found on damp ground in portions of western Europe...

.

Toxicity

E. palustre is poisonous to herbivorous animals, but not to humans. It contains a vitamin B₁-destroying enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 which can lead to severe lack of coordination in horses, and the piperidine

Piperidine

Piperidine is an organic compound with the molecular formula 5NH. This heterocyclic amine consists of a six-membered ring containing five methylene units and one nitrogen atom...

 alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

 palustrine

Palustrine

Palustrine comes from the Latin word palus or marsh. Wetlands within this category include inland marshes and swamps as well as bogs, fens, tundra and floodplains...

, which leads to lameness in cattle. Both substances are stable for years.