[129] Equisetum Telmateia telmateia, Great Horsetail
Introduction
We met Equisetum, Horsetails, yesterday. The other fairly common species in the UK is Equisetum telmateia telmateia, the Great Horsetail. which is much larger. (There are a few other species.)
The two subspecies of Equisetum telmateia are geographically separated. The other one, Equisetum telmeteia braunii, is generally known as the Northern Giant Horsetail. Two other species of Equisetum are also called Giant Horsetails.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Polypodiopsida (Ferns and Horsetails)
Subclass – Equisetidae (Only Horsetails)
Order – Equisetales (Horsetails)
Family – Equisetaceae (Horsetails)
Genus – Equisetum (Horsetails)
Subgenus – Equisetum
Scientific Names – Equisetum telmateia
Horsetails are sometimes treated as a separate Division or Class and may be called Equisetophyta, Arthrophyta, Calamophyta, Spenophyta, Equisetopsida or Phenopsida
Name
Telmateia comes from Ancient Greek telma meaning pond, marsh or swamp. (Equisetum is definitely neuter so the ending of Telmateia looks wrong.)
Description
I can’t add much to what I said yesterday about Horsetails, which are all essentially similar. You can imagine Equisetum telmateia as being a larger version of Equisetum arvense.
It has similar but much larger long, hollow, segmented vertical stems. Circles of smaller long thin segmented stems emerge from the junctions between segments.
Equisetum telmateia can grow to a height of two metres. Below is a close-up, showing the segments of the main stem, each three or four centimetres long.
Spores are produced from separate stems that emerge before the main green stems.
Habitat
Equisetum telmateia tends to be found in damp places. It has two subspecies. Equisetum telmateia telmateia is found in Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. Equisetum telmeteia braunii comes from western North America.
Other Notes
In the UK Equisetum telmateia is rarer than Equisetum arvense..
See also
As you will have gathered there is nothing else quite like a horsetail.
The Species of Britain 