HORSETAIL Equisetum arvensa

Description: Plant

Fine, jointed stems; produces fruiting or reproduc­tive stems and sterile stems; fruiting stems have no branches and bear a cone of reproductive spores, and appear in spring; sterile stems appear later, may have many jointed branches.

Habitat:

Moist places, thick ground cover beneath willows, in forests, along riverbanks.

Uses:

Horsetail is edible, but not choice. It must be boiled, as it is toxic raw. Some Athabascans use it as a seasoning. A fluidextract of the sterile stems and ashes from the burnt plant are used for medicine against kidney and bladder trouble, stones, ulcers or wounds in the bowel, and externally on sores. Horsetail has historical uses for cleaning and polishing. Its high silica content makes it good for scouring and soap preparation.

Special Harvest or Processing Comments:

An average forager can gather as much as 400 pounds in one day, resulting in over 100 pounds of dry product. This can vary markedly with the size of the stand and harvest methods used. Horsetail could be harvested with a scythe, carpet knife, "weed eater" or lawn mower. Horsetail accumulates molecular gold, possibly more than any other plant (0.03 ­0.075 ppm), averaging 125 gm. per ton (wet).