¤$§:~,....                                          ....,~:§$¤
$§:~,.....                                          .....,~:§$
§:~,......                                          ......,~:§
:~,.......                                          .......,~:
~,........                                          ........,~
,.........                (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.          .........,
~,........                                          ........,~
:~,.......                                          .......,~:
§:~,......                                          ......,~:§
$§:~,.....                                          .....,~:§$
¤$§:~,....                                          ....,~:§$¤