.^-:%*¤¶##                                          ##¶¤*%:-^.
..^-:%*¤¶#                                          #¶¤*%:-^..
...^-:%*¤¶                                          ¶¤*%:-^...
....^-:%*¤                                          ¤*%:-^....
.....^-:%*                                          *%:-^.....
......^-:%               (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.         %:-^......
.......^-:                                          :-^.......
........^-                                          -^........
.........^                                          ^.........
........^-                                          -^........
.......^-:                                          :-^.......