Horsetail is definitely not one of the most popular garden plants. The plant is very stubborn and difficult to control. In addition to horsetail, which is often seen as a weed, there are also some species that are grown as ornamental plants in ponds or in pots. A personal description.

The horsetail is a very decorative and robust fern

Horsetail - A Wanted Poster

  • Botanical name: Equisetum
  • Common names: horsetail, scouring herb, ponytail, Katzenwedel, Pfannebutzer
  • Plant Family: Horsetails
  • botanical family: ferns
  • Occurrence: northern hemisphere, Japan, tropics
  • Species: 15 to 20 species
  • Height: 10 to 300 cm depending on the species
  • Location: compacted soils, depressions, ponds, riverbanks
  • Propagation: spores, rhizomes with underground runners
  • Flower: no flower, instead a spike of spores
  • Flowering time: March to June, depending on the variety
  • Propagation: spores, underground runners
  • Use field horsetail as a natural remedy: inflammation, sore throat, rheumatism, gout
  • Use in the garden: ornamental plant, pond plant, container plant
  • Toxicity: some species, such as horsetail, are poisonous
  • Hardiness: hardy

Horsetails contain a lot of silica

Large amounts of silicic acid are stored in the stalks of the horsetail. The share can be up to seven percent.

That is why horsetail is used in natural medicine and natural cosmetics.

The silica forms small crystals that make the stems very rough. Horsetail has therefore been used for cleaning and polishing pewter and crockery for centuries. Hence the popular names horsetail, pancake or scouring herb.

Which horsetail species are poisonous?

Not all horsetail species are poisonous. The field horsetail, feared as a weed, is edible.

Marsh horsetail and all varieties suitable for ponds, on the other hand, are poisonous. This can become a real problem, especially on cattle pastures. Combating swamp horsetail is nearly impossible. Because of the low-lying rhizomes and the propagation via spores, even chemical weed killers such as Round-up fail.

Caution is therefore required when collecting and consuming, especially since marsh horsetail and field horsetail look very similar at first glance. However, there are differences with which an assignment is possible.

tips

Horsetail is one of the oldest plants in the world, dating back to the ancient continent of Gondwana. Even in prehistoric times there were entire forests of horsetail that grew 30 meters as high as trees.

Category:

Vegetable garden