.,~/%$&###                                          ###&$%/~,.
..,~/%$&##                                          ##&$%/~,..
...,~/%$&#                                          #&$%/~,...
....,~/%$&                                          &$%/~,....
.....,~/%$                                          $%/~,.....
......,~/%               (EQUISETUM)                %/~,......
.......,~/                                          /~,.......
........,~                                          ~,........
.........,                                          ,.........
..........        .,~/~,. THE PLANT .,~/~,.         ..........
..........                                          ..........
.......... THE  EQUISETUM  IS  A PLANT  MUCH  OLDER ..........
.......... THAN  FERNS,  WHICH  ARE  IN  TURN  MUCH ..........
.......... OLDER  THAN MOST TREES. IT'S LIGHT GREEN ..........
.......... TO  YELLOW  IN  COLOR  AND  IS  SLIGHTLY ..........
..........               TRANSPARENT.               ..........
..........                                          ..........
.......... THE PLANT HAS  A SPINE. EACH VERTEBRA IS ..........
........., STACKED  UPON  THE NEXT,  WITH SPOKELIKE ,.........
........,~ RIBS RADIATING  OUTWARD.  EVEN SO,  IT'S ~,........
.......,~/ VERY  LIGHT,  BEING HOLLOW. IT'S ROUGHLY /~,.......
......,~/% THE  HEIGHT OF A FOXES TAIL, AND  SHARES %/~,......
.....,~/%$            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.          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
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