The Equisetums are such wonderfully sculptural plants, living fossils that are so old they once thrived beneath the trees in the Paleozoic era, more than 250 million years ago. The name comes from the Latin equus, meaning horse, and seta, meaning bristle, which is probably why these plants are also known as horsetails.
earthstar 
They are fascinating but yes, you absolutely DO NOT WANT them in your garden. Horsetails and bindweed – I bet they will be first up after the Bomb.
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I’m sure you are right about that! 🙂
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In my early years when I had an allotment in my naivety I tried to get rid of them by digging them in…..disastrous.
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Haha … sorry, shouldn’t laugh but I can just imagine the problems you had.
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You would think that over the time they have been living, someone would have made something durable from them, wouldn’t you?
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Well actually they have – according to my Flora Britannica, the deposits of silica crystals on their stems and leaves have been used as a form of fine sandpaper, for scouring pans and by watchmakers for fine finishing. The stems themselves break apart too easily at every notch for them to be used for anything though.
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They look like bike spokes. Apparently it is impossible to get rid of them from your garden.
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I can imagine that. They appear year after year in local parks and verges, even when heavily cut back in the autumn.
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