Flora of North America species comparison

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Equisetum palustre

Equisetum telmateia

marsh horsetail, prêle des marais

giant horsetail, great horsetail, northern giant horsetail, swamp willowherb
Sheaths

elongate, 4–9 × 2–5 mm;

teeth dark, 5–10, narrow, 2–5 mm, margins white, scarious.

Aerial stems

monomorphic, green, branched or unbranched, 20–80 cm;

hollow center small, to 1/3 stem diam.;

vallecular canals nearly as large.

Branches

when present only from midstem nodes, spreading, hollow;

ridges 4–6;

valleys rounded; 1st internode of each branch shorter than subtending stem sheath;

sheath teeth narrow.

2n

=216.

Equisetum palustre

Equisetum telmateia
Phenology Cones maturing in summer.
Habitat Marshes and swamps
Elevation 0–1500m (0–4900ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NH; NY; OR; PA; VT; WA; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Eurasia s to Himalayas; n China; Korea; Japan
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from FNA
AK; CA; OR; WA; BC; Europe; n Africa; w Asia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The name Equisetum palustre var. americanum has been used for specimens from the flora that have longer teeth than those from Eurasia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Equisetaceae > Equisetum > subg. Hippochaete Equisetaceae > Equisetum > subg. Hippochaete
Sibling taxa
E. arvense, E. fluviatile, E. hyemale, E. laevigatum, E. pratense, E. ramosissimum, E. scirpoides, E. sylvaticum, E. telmateia, E. variegatum, E. ×ferrissii, E. ×litorale, E. ×mackaii, E. ×nelsonii
E. arvense, E. fluviatile, E. hyemale, E. laevigatum, E. palustre, E. pratense, E. ramosissimum, E. scirpoides, E. sylvaticum, E. variegatum, E. ×ferrissii, E. ×litorale, E. ×mackaii, E. ×nelsonii
Subordinate taxa
E. telmateia subsp. braunii
Synonyms E. palustre var. americanum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1061. (1753) Ehrhart: Hannover. Mag. 21: 287. (1783)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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