Single Record
Participant Info
- Species
- Equisetum arvense [Allostelites arvensis] [Presla arvensis] [Equistum alpestre] etc.
- Family
- Equisetaceae
- CommonName
- field horsetail, common horsetail, scouring brush
- Presence
- Yes
- Status
- native
- EarliestDate
- 1900
- LatestDate
- 2024
- Ecosystem
- basin, shrubland, foothill, montane, subalpine, ruderal
- Geobotanical
- SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos, UBasin, LBasin
- Counties
- Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, Archuleta
- Passes
- WildlifePreserves
- Alamosa, Baca, Brown Lakes, Monte Vista
- Other Localities
- Comments
- Field horsetail has been vouchered from the Watershed many times, from all mountain ranges except from the Culebras and not from the Upper and Lower Basins. The habitat of Equisetum arvenseis is thoroughly mesic, found beside ponds, lakes, and streams (often in the floodplain), and in ditches and marshes, sometimes standing in water. It is common in all USA states except the lower Great Plains and Texas and the Deep South. It follows the Rio Grande drainage solidly through New Mexico but not farther down stream into Texas. E. arvensis grows around the world in the subarctic and temperate northern hemisphere. It spreads by spores, rhizomes, and deeply buried tubers. Its root system can be up to six feet in depth. The common name "scouring brush" refers to its use in polishing wood, pewter, and fingernails. According to 18th-century accounts, it was also used by hurdy-gurdy players to clean the instrument of resin build-up. Its medical uses were and are as numerous as they are suspect.
- Annotation