........~«                                          «~........
.........~                                          ~.........
..........                                          ..........
.........~                                          ~.........
........~«                                          «~........
.......~«;               (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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.......~«;                                          ;«~.......
......~«;†                                          †;«~......