Scouring Rush (3)
Scouring Rushes are not Rushes; they are Horsetails which are prehistoric organisms. They grow with evergreen, hollow, bamboo-like stems in wet woods, moist hillsides and at water's edge. The leaves are reduced to tiny, scale-like teeth fused into a sheath around the joints of the stem. Teeth are usually shed during the growing season. Spores are produced in the pine cone-like heads.
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Smooth Scouring Rush Family:
Horsetail (Equisetaceae) Grows 8" to 5 feet tall with a smooth (unridged) stem. Sheaths are longer than wide and have one dark band. Cones are rounded. Flora of North America reference. |
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Common Scouring Rush Family:
Horsetail (Equisetaceae) Grows 2 to 4 feet with a stem which has rough ridges. It has two dark bands around the sheath and the cone has a pointed tip. Flora of North America reference. |
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Ferriss' Horsetail Family:
Horsetail (Equisetaceae) This is a hybrid between E. hyemale and E. laevigatum and is sterile. It grows from 1 to 5 feet tall with a ridged stem, sometimes with irregular, scattered branches. Sheaths are as long or slightly shorter than wide, marked with dark basal band, light gray to brown central band, and dark teeth. Flora of North America reference. |