Horsetail (Equisetum) Mature Strobilus

Horsetails (Equisetum arvense) are hollow-stemmed plants that anchor deep into the ground by an extensive, creeping root system. Also commonly known as mare's tail, horse pipes, or snake grass, their origins reach far back into the past, some 200 million years. These living fossils thrive in wet localities such as stream banks, swamps, bogs, wet meadows, and gullies, as well as roadside ditches.