Giant Horsetails!

ahortator

Well-known member

Veteran

• Feb 28, 2018

• #1

Hi. I saw this photo a few years ago. So inmediately I had a craving for it

This one is from Lluta Valley in Northern Chile.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3354/4574841901_79c28d5946_b.jpg
Lluta Valley too.

But it grows in other countries in South America.

"But the most remarkable plant in the forest of Canelos is a gigantic Equisetum, 20 ft high, and the stem nearly as thick as the wrist! ... It extends for a distance of a mile on a plain bordering the Pastasa, but elevated some 200 ft above it, where at every few steps one sinks over the knees in black, white, and red mud. A wood of young larches may give you an idea of its appearance. I have never seen anything which so much astonished me. I could almost fancy myself in some primeval forest of Calamites, and if some gigantic Saurian had suddenly appeared, crushing its way among the succulent stems, my surprise could hardly have been increased. I could find no fruit, so that whether it be terminal, as in E. giganteum, or radical, as in E. fluviatile, is still doubtful, and for this reason I took no specimens at the time, though I shall make a point of gathering it in any state" (Spruce, 1908)
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Biol...Equisetum+with+emphasis+on+the...-a0334040623

Click to expand...

Photos from Madre de Dios, Peru.

https://www.murvegetalpatrickblanc.com/patrick-blanc/portraits?page=39

https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/inspiration/aquatics-and-rheophytes?page=8

They can be propagated extreme easily by cuttings.

I hope you have the craving for them now too, hehehehe

Greetings!

 

exploziv

pure dynamite

Administrator

Veteran

• Feb 28, 2018

• #2

And I thought the ones that are over 1 meter tall in my garden are big! WOW!

 

ahortator

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Veteran

• Mar 1, 2018

• #3

Hi, exploziv. I have seen a few Equisetum ramosissimum here about 2m tall. But they cannot withstand upright by themselves.

I think they are poisonous. Unlike the giant ones which aren't poisonous and they can be used as medicine or against mold in plants.

I forget to say that the species in the pics above is Equisetum giganteum. There are another giant horsetail species Equisetum myriochaetum, taller but thinner. And also a sterile hybrid among them E. x schaffneri.

https://stories.rbge.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/19734598A_2.jpg

 

exploziv

pure dynamite

Administrator

Veteran

• Mar 1, 2018

• #4

The ones around my homecountry are most probably Equisetum arvense, and are not poisonous, I know that because people drink a brew made out of them for health reasons.
I used a lot of them in my compost for the silica content.

 

ahortator

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Veteran

• Mar 2, 2018

• #5

Yes, Equisetum arvense is the most used in brew as medicine. In my zone we have only two species. Equisetum ramosissimum and Equisetum telmateia. The latter is called in books Norhtern giant horsetail, but the former species grows taller.

E. telamteia is not poisonous and useful as medicine, as far I know, but it is not very common, so I prefer not annoy them. Also I have failed to propagate it by stem cuttings. E. ramosissimum stems roots extremely easy in plain water. Even side branches.

They have silica and they are very good against mold in weed.

 

exploziv

pure dynamite

Administrator

Veteran

• Mar 2, 2018

• #6

Yes, arvense grows everywhere where it finds moist soil snd filtered sunlight, especially near the forest edge. Even on the young forest floor it thrives. Once it grows too tall it leanes on to a side.

 

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen

• Mar 3, 2018

• #7

Looks prehistoric, like something from the carboniferous period.

 

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Betterhaff

Well-known member

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• Mar 3, 2018

• #8

Equisetum is a living fossil.

 

ahortator

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Veteran

• Mar 3, 2018

• #9

Yes. The first time I saw the first photo I posted above I thought it was not real. They look like Calamites. Not so big, but they resemble their long gone relatives.

It is said Equisetum is the oldest extant plant genus.

Their spores dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvC4pOb7MhE

 

Last edited: Mar 3, 2018

ahortator

Well-known member

Veteran

• Mar 5, 2018

• #10

This fossil of Calamites bears a whorl of
leaves or branches. So it is not a pith cast
but the tree itself. The size of the trunk is
about 2 m. Piesberg.Westfalian D.

This fossil of Calamites clearly shows the pith cast. The length of the trunk is about 90 cm.
Piesberg. Westfalian D.

https://steurh.home.xs4all.nl/engcalam/ecalhans.html

https://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com.es/2011/08/calamites-and-stigmaria-from-hazard-ky.html