Dwarf Scouring Rush
Equisetum scirpoides
Equisetum scirpoides (dwarf scouring rush or dwarf horsetail) is the smallest of the currently occurring representatives of the genus Equisetum (horsetail).
Sterile stems are multiple from the base, evergreen, have no branches, and bend/coil/twist into a contorted tangle. The “leaves” are reduced to a sheath that surrounds the stem, with 3 black/brown teeth around the top that have distinct white edges and persist all season. There is a black band just above the base of the sheath.
Fertile stems are like the sterile stems but distinguished by the cone, less than 6.3 mm long, at the tip of the stem. Cones have a sharp-pointed tip, mature in late summer or may over-winter and release spores the following spring.
Sterile stems are multiple from the base, evergreen, have no branches, and bend/coil/twist into a contorted tangle. The “leaves” are reduced to a sheath that surrounds the stem, with 3 black/brown teeth around the top that have distinct white edges and persist all season. There is a black band just above the base of the sheath.
Fertile stems are like the sterile stems but distinguished by the cone, less than 6.3 mm long, at the tip of the stem. Cones have a sharp-pointed tip, mature in late summer or may over-winter and release spores the following spring.