Equisetaceae - horsetail family

Gerald A. Mulligan (1928 - 2022)
Research Scientist and Research Institute Director (retired).
Honorary Research Associate (1987 - 2022), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada

Awarded the George Lawson Medal by the Canadian Botanical Association in 2006.
Awarded the Faculty of Macdonald, McGill University, Most Distinguished Alumni Award on October 18, 2014.
Read his biography "The Real Weed Man" available in print and ebook.

Equisetum arvense L., field horsetail, prêle des champs
Perennial, spreading by spores and creeping rootstocks that send up new shoots. Stems of two types: light brown, unbranched, ones 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25 cm.) high, terminating in a cone; branched stems , 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm.) high, with whorls of 4-angled green branches arising at the joints; throughout our area; railways, hayfields, roadsides, waste places, and open woods; native to North America.

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Weed Name Photo Weed Name Photo
field horsetail, prêle des champs field horsetail, prêle des champs
(underground rootstock with vegetative stems)
field horsetail, prêle des champs
(F&M)
field horsetail, prêle des champs
(3 vegetative stems)
field horsetail, prêle des champs
(underground rootstock with fertile and vegetative stems)
field horsetail, prêle des champs
(emerging shoots)
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