/«^.......                                          .......^«/
=/«^......                                          ......^«/=
%=/«^.....                                          .....^«/=%
@%=/«^....                                          ....^«/=%@
#@%=/«^...                                          ...^«/=%@#
##@%=/«^..                (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.          ....^«/=%@
%=/«^.....                                          .....^«/=%
=/«^......                                          ......^«/=
/«^.......                                          .......^«/
«^........                                          ........^«
/«^.......                                          .......^«/