.........^                                          ^.........
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..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........               (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 $:~^......
.......^~:            A SIMILAR PLUMAGE.            :~^.......
........^~                                          ~^........
.........^ IT  LIKES PARTIAL  SHADE  AND  VERY DAMP ^.........
..........                   AREAS                  ..........
..........                                          ..........
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..........                                          ..........
..........         .^~:~^. IN MAGIC .^~:~^.         ..........
..........                                          ..........
.......... WHEN A COLONY  NUMBERS  HIGH ENOUGH,  IT ..........
.........^ SLICES  THE  AIR  IN  THE   FOREST  INTO ^.........
........^~ SEPARATE  PLANES,  A FEW CENTIMETERS  IN ~^........
.......^~: HEIGHT.  TIME   CAN  GET  DIFFRACTED  IN :~^.......
......^~:$ THESE,   HITTING  EACH  IN  TURN   IN  A $:~^......
.....^~:$$      SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLE, AND       $$:~^.....
....^~:$$§          EVENTUALLY SPREAD THIN.         §$$:~^....
...^~:$$§#                                          #§$$:~^...
..^~:$$§#@                                          @#§$$:~^..
.^~:$$§#@#                                          #@#§$$:~^.
..^~:$$§#@                                          @#§$$:~^..
...^~:$$§#                                          #§$$:~^...