Equisetum variegatum; The Variegated Horsetail is very common. It grows almost everywhere on Iceland, but for the glacials. It can be distinguished from other (more or less unbranched-) horsetails by angled stems with dentated sheaths (5-8) with conspicuous membrane fringes and the pointed spore tops. grows in bogs and marshlands. The main branch has only very short side branches. Next to the variegated horsetail some other similar horsetails grow on Iceland. To tell them apart here is a simple key:
- E. palustre: marsh horsetail: short side branches, terminal cones not pointed
- E. fluviatile: water horsetail: no side branches, terminal cones not pointed, about 14 dental points on stem-sheaths.
- E. variegatum: variegated horsetail: no side branches, terminal cones pointed, about 5-8 dental points on stem-sheaths
- E. hyemale: rough horsetail: no side branches, about 20 dental points on stem-sheath - but very tiny: the sheaths seems almost round. Much thicker stems than any other horsetail on Iceland
