Weed Information: Equisetum telmateia (horsetail, giant)
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Equisetum telmateia (horsetail, giant)

Family: Equisetaceae

Description

Giant horsetail produces a pink to white spike-like stem in the early spring which is soon followed by a bushy green stem with many whorls of slender branches. This stem is often 3 or more feet tall.

Characteristics

Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Head
Number of Petals
  • 0 (no petals)
Number of Sepals
  • sepals lacking
Number of Styles
  • Styles lacking (male flowers only)
Number of Stamens
  • stamens lacking (female flowers only)

Number of Carpels
  • 0 (male flowers only or plants producing spores)
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like
Fruit Type
  • Spore

Leaf Arrangement
  • Whorled 5 - 8 per node
  • Whorled > 8 per node
Leaf Type
  • Simple (including lobed leaves)
Stipules
  • Lacking
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Parallel
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole absent (leaf sessile)
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.60 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • < 1 mm (< .04 inch)
  • 1 - 5 mm (.04 - .20 inch)
Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)
  • Linear or filiform
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Entire
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Truncate
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Acuminate (attenuate)
  • Acute
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Glabrous (NO hairs)
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Herbaceous
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Perennial
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Erect, columnar (narrow)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
  • 4 - 6 dm (1.3 - 2.0 feet)
  • 6 - 8 dm (2.0 - 2.6 feet)
  • 8 - 10 dm (2.6 - 3.3 feet)
  • 1 - 1.5 meters (3.3 - 5.0 feet)
  • 1.5 - 2.0 meters (5.0 - 6.6 feet)
  • 2 - 2.5 meters (6.6 - 8.3 feet)
  • 2.5 - 5 meters (8.3 - 16.6 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Fruit, seed, or spore wind borne
Moisture Regime
  • Aquatic
  • Semi-aquatic
  • Seasonally saturated
Chlorophyll
  • Absent
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Hollow (flowering stem at maturity)
  • Ridged
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem leaves greatly reduced
  • Stem uniformly leafy
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem unbranched
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Fibrous
  • Rhizomatous

US State
  • Michigan
  • California
  • Idaho
  • Oregon
  • Washington
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia

  • Aquatic and Riparian Plants of the West, 2003 (ISBN# 1-879906-59-7) See page: 205
  • Gilkey`s Weeds of the Pacific Northwest, 1980 (ISBN 0-88246-039-0) See page: 21
  • Northwest Weeds, 1990 (ISBN 0-87842-249-8) See page: 9
  • Selected Weeds of Oregon, 1985 and 1989 Supplement (s) Oregon State Dept. of Agriculture, See page: 2
  • Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 108
  • Weeds of California and other Western States, 2007 (ISBN 13: 978-1-879906-69-3) See Page: 696
  • Weeds of the West, 1992 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 397
  • Weeds of the West, 2000 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 305
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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