Bitterroot Restoration

Division: Pteridophyta
Class: Equisetopsida
Order: Equisetales
Family: Equisetaceae
Common name: Equisetum(Beng.); Horsetail, Bottlebrush plant(Eng.).
Life cycle: Perennial
Native Range: It is native to Europe, to North Africa and can also be seen in parts of northern Asia and the whole of the new world.

Equisetum debile is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae. They mostly grow 0.2-1.5 m tall. It herb is very strange and the plant has a creeping. The roots at the nodes are turned into numerous hollow stems of two kinds. Equisetum debile begins growth in two stages, initial growth of the plant is through a fertile and flesh colored stem, this stem can grow to a height of four to seven inches and comes out a cone like spike - this spike contains spores of the plant. The initial stem does not last long and withers away. The second stem is a green and sterile structure reaching a length of eighteen inches in height and crowned by whorls of small branches - this is the final shape that the plant will take for its life span.

This plant has a long history of medicinal uses, although modern sources include cautions with regard to its use.