Smooth Scouring Rush, Smooth Horsetail,Equisetum laevigatum,Horsetail Family (Equisetaceae)

7/26/2024

Found in moist, open areas, river banks
Seen in July by the Rio Chama

Scouring Rushes are not Rushes; they are Horsetails, which are prehistoric organisms that thrived 400 million years ago during the Paleozoic era. They grow from one to four feet tall with a ridged, hollow, bamboo-like stem. The leaves are reduced to tiny, dark teeth fused into a sheath around the joints of the stem; teeth are usually shed during the growing season. It produces spores, rather than seeds, from flowers in pine cone-like heads. Native Americans had many uses for the plant. The stems were used to do the final polishing of wooden spoons and to polish the soft rock used for pipe bowls, to give medicine to babies and used by children as whistles. It was given to thin, old horses with diarrhea after eating fresh grass in spring. It was used medicinally as a contraceptive; to stimulate the kidneys; to treat bladder ailments, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, venereal diseases, backaches, and colds; also used as an insecticide for washing hair and to treat parts of the body affected by poison ivy. Source.

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2 Comments

Sara Wright

7/26/2024 04:02:03 pm

I love these ancient plants that are still with us - As I understand it at one point some were huge - can't recall exact height but we are talking about tree size equivalent to the size of some trees today - When I look at them I can imagine walking through aa forest of these beings! Thanks!

H Richrod

8/2/2024 08:44:04 pm

Horsetail is also a great tool for cleaning out bird baths - it contains silica - so indeed, it is "scour brush". If a pool has algae, swiping the entire stem through the water will pick up quite a bit of slime and gunk, as well. A handy plant indeed.

Author

I am Marilyn Phillips, a native of England, whose love of nature and the outdoors from childhood brought me by a circuitous route to Crested Butte, Colorado in 1993 and 16 years later to northern New Mexico. My exploration of the many trails in these areas, my interest in wildflowers and photography, and career in computer system design came together in this creation. If you have any corrections, comments or questions, please contact me by email.