FLORA OF ICELAND elements: Equisetum arvense, field horsetail

Equisetum arvense; The Field Horsetail is very common. It grows both in disturbed areas, like roadsides and dumps as well as in natural areas almost everywhere in Iceland. The pale, slightly reddish, fertile stems appear first in early spring, well before the vegetative stems appear. It is quite similar to some other horsetails (E. pratense: shady horsetail) and a very rare one (E. sylvaticum only from a few forests). The field horsetail can be recognised by rather coarse lateral stems pointing upwards. The shady horsetail has finer lateral branches in a more or less horizontal position. The wood horsetail is the only one of these three that has branched lateral stems.

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