Flora of North America species comparison

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Equisetum pratense

meadow horsetail, prêle des prés, shady horsetail
Sheaths

somewhat elongate, 3–5 × 2–4 mm;

teeth 8–18, narrow, 1.5–4 mm, centers dark and margins white.
Aerial stems

dimorphic;

vegetative stems green, branched, 16–50 cm;

hollow center 1/6–1/3 stem diam.
Fertile stems

brown, with stomates, initially unbranched, persisting and becoming branched and green after spore discharge.
Branches

in regular whorls, horizontal to drooping, solid;

ridges 3;

valleys channeled; 1st internode of each branch equal to or longer than subtending stem sheath;

sheath teeth deltate.

Equisetum pratense
Phenology Cones maturing in late spring.
Habitat Meadows, wet woodlands
Elevation 0–2000 m (0–6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CT; IA; IL; MA; ME; MI; MN; ND; NH; NY; VT; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; n Eurasia to ne China; Japan in Hokkaido
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Equisetaceae > Equisetum > subg. Hippochaete
Sibling taxa
E. arvense, E. fluviatile, E. hyemale, E. laevigatum, E. palustre, E. ramosissimum, E. scirpoides, E. sylvaticum, E. telmateia, E. variegatum, E. ×ferrissii, E. ×litorale, E. ×mackaii, E. ×nelsonii
Name authority Ehrhart: Hannover. Mag. 22: 138. (1784)
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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