horsetail

horse·tail  (hôrstl)

n.

Any of various nonflowering plants of the genus Equisetum, having a jointed hollow stem and narrow, sometimes much reduced leaves. Also called equisetum.

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horsetail [ˈhɔːsˌteɪl]

n

1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Plants) any tracheophyte plant of the genus Equisetum, having jointed stems with whorls of small dark toothlike leaves and producing spores within conelike structures at the tips of the stems: phylum Sphenophyta

2. (History / Heraldry) a stylized horse's tail formerly used as the emblem of a pasha, the number of tails increasing with rank

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horsetail  (hôrstl)

A member of a genus, Equisetum, of seedless vascular plants having a jointed hollow stem and narrow, sometimes much reduced leaves. Plants extremely similar to modern horsetails are known from fossils 300 million years old. The horsetails are the last surviving members of the phylum Sphenophyta, which dominated the forests of the Devonian and Carboniferous periods.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

horsetail - perennial rushlike flowerless herbs with jointed hollow stems and narrow toothlike leaves that spread by creeping rhizomes; tend to become weedy; common in northern hemisphere; some in Africa and South America fern ally - pteridophytes of other classes than Filicopsida strobile, strobilus, cone - cone-shaped mass of ovule- or spore-bearing scales or bracts Equisetum, genus Equisetum - horsetails; coextensive with the family Equisetaceae common horsetail, Equisetum arvense, field horsetail - of Eurasia and Greenland and North America Equisetum fluviatile, swamp horsetail, water horsetail - Eurasia; northern North America to Virginia Equisetum hyemale, Equisetum hyemale robustum, Equisetum robustum, rough horsetail, scouring rush - evergreen erect horsetail with rough-edged stems; formerly used for scouring utensils Equisetum palustre, marsh horsetail - scouring-rush horsetail widely distributed in wet or boggy areas of northern hemisphere Equisetum Sylvaticum, wood horsetail - Eurasia except southern Russia; northern North America Equisetum variegatum, variegated horsetail, variegated scouring rush - northern North America; Greenland; northern and central Europe