..,-;$@###                                          ###@$;-,..
...,-;$@##                                          ##@$;-,...
....,-;$@#                                          #@$;-,....
.....,-;$@                                          @$;-,.....
......,-;$                                          $;-,......
.......,-;               (EQUISETUM)                ;-,.......
........,-                                          -,........
.........,                                          ,.........
..........                                          ..........
..........        .,-;-,. THE PLANT .,-;-,.         ..........
..........                                          ..........
.......... THE  EQUISETUM  IS  A  PLANT MUCH  OLDER ..........
.......... THAN  FERNS,  WHICH  ARE  IN  TURN  MUCH ..........
........., OLDER THAN MOST  TREES. IT'S LIGHT GREEN ,.........
........,- TO  YELLOW  IN  COLOR  AND  IS  SLIGHTLY -,........
.......,-;               TRANSPARENT.               ;-,.......
......,-;$                                          $;-,......
.....,-;$@ 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                  @$;-,.....
......,-;$                                          $;-,......
.......,-;                                          ;-,.......
........,-                                          -,........
.........,         .,-;-,. IN MAGIC .,-;-,.         ,.........
..........                                          ..........
.......... WHEN  A COLONY NUMBERS HIGH  ENOUGH,  IT ..........
.......... SLICES  THE  AIR  IN   THE  FOREST  INTO ..........
.......... SEPARATE  PLANES, A FEW  CENTIMETERS  IN ..........
.......... HEIGHT.  TIME   CAN  GET  DIFFRACTED  IN ..........
........., THESE,  HITTING   EACH   IN  TURN  IN  A ,.........
........,-      SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLE, AND       -,........
.......,-;         EVENTUALLY SPREAD THIN.          ;-,.......
......,-;$                                          $;-,......
.....,-;$@                                          @$;-,.....
....,-;$@#                                          #@$;-,....
...,-;$@##                                          ##@$;-,...
..,-;$@###                                          ###@$;-,..