........~~ ~~........
.........~ ~.........
.......... ..........
.........~ ~.........
........~~ ~~........
.......~~/ (EQUISETUM) /~~.......
......~~/† †/~~......
.....~~/†$ $†/~~.....
....~~/†$§ §$†/~~....
...~~/†$§@ .~~/~~. THE PLANT .~~/~~. @§$†/~~...
..~~/†$§@@ @@§$†/~~..
.~~/†$§@@# THE EQUISETUM IS A PLANT MUCH OLDER #@@§$†/~~.
..~~/†$§@@ THAN FERNS, WHICH ARE IN TURN MUCH @@§$†/~~..
...~~/†$§@ OLDER THAN MOST TREES. IT'S LIGHT GREEN @§$†/~~...
....~~/†$§ TO YELLOW IN COLOR AND IS SLIGHTLY §$†/~~....
.....~~/†$ TRANSPARENT. $†/~~.....
......~~/† †/~~......
.......~~/ THE PLANT HAS A SPINE. EACH VERTEBRA IS /~~.......
........~~ STACKED UPON THE NEXT, WITH SPOKELIKE ~~........
.........~ RIBS RADIATING OUTWARD. EVEN SO, IT'S ~.........
.......... VERY LIGHT, BEING HOLLOW. IT'S ROUGHLY ..........
.........~ THE HEIGHT OF A FOXES TAIL, AND SHARES ~.........
........~~ A SIMILAR PLUMAGE. ~~........
.......~~/ /~~.......
......~~/† IT LIKES PARTIAL SHADE AND VERY DAMP †/~~......
.....~~/†$ AREAS $†/~~.....
....~~/†$§ §$†/~~....
...~~/†$§@ @§$†/~~...
..~~/†$§@@ @@§$†/~~..
.~~/†$§@@# .~~/~~. IN MAGIC .~~/~~. #@@§$†/~~.
..~~/†$§@@ @@§$†/~~..
...~~/†$§@ WHEN A COLONY NUMBERS HIGH ENOUGH, IT @§$†/~~...
....~~/†$§ SLICES THE AIR IN THE FOREST INTO §$†/~~....
.....~~/†$ SEPARATE PLANES, A FEW CENTIMETERS IN $†/~~.....
......~~/† HEIGHT. TIME CAN GET DIFFRACTED IN †/~~......
.......~~/ THESE, HITTING EACH IN TURN IN A /~~.......
........~~ SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLE, AND ~~........
.........~ EVENTUALLY SPREAD THIN. ~.........
.......... ..........
.........~ ~.........
........~~ ~~........
.......~~/ /~~.......
......~~/† †/~~......