Scouring Rush (3)
Scouring Rushes are not Rushes; they are Horsetails which are prehistoric organisms. They grow with evergreen, hollow, bamboo-like stems in wet woods, moist hillsides and at water's edge. The leaves are reduced to tiny, scale-like teeth fused into a sheath around the joints of the stem. Teeth are usually shed during the growing season. Spores are produced in the pine cone-like heads.
Smooth Scouring Rush
Equisetum laevigatum
Family:
Horsetail (Equisetaceae)
AKA:
Smooth Horsetail
Photo taken on:
July 22, 2010
Location:
Almont, CO
Life Zones:
Plains to montane
Habitat:
Moist, open areas
Grows 8" to 5 feet tall with a smooth (unridged) stem. Sheaths are longer than wide and have one dark band. Cones are rounded.
Flora of North America reference.
Common Scouring Rush
Equisetum hyemale subsp. affine
Family:
Horsetail (Equisetaceae)
AKA:
Rough Horsetail, Scouring-rush Horsetail
Photo taken on:
August 24, 2007
Location:
Union Canyon, GV, CO
Life Zones:
Plains to montane
Habitat:
Moist areas, stream banks
Grows 2 to 4 feet with a stem which has rough ridges. It has two dark bands around the sheath and the cone has a pointed tip.
Flora of North America reference.
Ferriss' Horsetail
Equisetum x ferrissii
Family:
Horsetail (Equisetaceae)
AKA:
Intermediate Horsetail
Photo taken on:
June 13, 2017
Location:
Rio Chama, Abiquiu, NM
Life Zones:
Plains to montane
Habitat:
Moist, open areas, river banks
This is a hybrid between E. hyemale and E. laevigatum and is sterile. It grows from 1 to 5 feet tall with a ridged stem, sometimes with irregular, scattered branches. Sheaths are as long or slightly shorter than wide, marked with dark basal band, light gray to brown central band, and dark teeth.
Flora of North America reference.