{i} tail of a horse; plant that does not produce flowers and has a hollow jointed stem; object that looks lika a horse's tail; Turkish standard that symbolizes a rank (used in the Ottoman Empire)
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
also called scouring rush Any of the 30 species of rushlike (see rush), conspicuously segmented, perennial herbaceous plants that make up the genus Equisetum. They grow in moist, rich soils everywhere except Australasia. Some are evergreen; others send up new shoots every year. The stems contain abundant silicate minerals and other minerals. The leaves are merely sheaths that encircle the shoots. An ancient plant, the horsetail's relatives date to the Carboniferous Period. The common horsetail (E. arvense) is widespread along streambanks and in meadows in North America and Eurasia. Though poisonous to livestock, horsetails are used in folk medicines. Because of their abrasive stems, some species have been used in polishing tools