.........,                                          ,.........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........               (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.          #¶£%§*«,..
...,«*§%£¶                                          ¶£%§*«,...
....,«*§%£                                          £%§*«,....
.....,«*§%                                          %§*«,.....
......,«*§                                          §*«,......
.......,«*                                          *«,.......