Equisetum telmateia

Great Horsetail Equisetaceae

The giant of the British horsetails, Equisetum telmateia is an ancient plant with an appearance that suggests someone designed a fern using a ruler and a rather limited colour palette. Its tall, pale green sterile stems carry whorls of numerous fine branches, giving mature plants an impressive, architectural presence. In early spring, before the sterile shoots appear, separate fertile brownish stems emerge bearing oval cones packed with spores. 

Native across Europe, North Africa and western Asia to Iran, it is particularly characteristic of damp woodland, springs, seepages and wet, often shady ground. It is remarkably vigorous, spreading principally by an extensive network of rhizomes as well as by spores. In a garden, therefore, it is less a plant to be planted casually than a plant to be given a very definite job description and preferably a boundary. 

A superb architectural plant for large naturalistic schemes, bog gardens and difficult damp ground, where its prehistoric character can be enjoyed without having to negotiate with its rhizomes every five minutes.

Height: 1–1.5m
Spread: 1–2m
Flowering: Non-flowering; spores produced March–April
Hardiness: H7
Aspect: Sun to full shade
Soil: Moist to wet, most soils