...^~:$@#£                                          £#@$:~^...
..^~:$@#£#                                          #£#@$:~^..
.^~:$@#£##                                          ##£#@$:~^.
..^~:$@#£#                                          #£#@$:~^..
...^~:$@#£                                          £#@$:~^...
....^~:$@#                (EQUISETUM)               #@$:~^....
.....^~:$@                                          @$:~^.....
......^~:$                                          $:~^......
.......^~:                                          :~^.......
........^~         .^~:~^. THE PLANT .^~:~^.        ~^........
.........^                                          ^.........
.......... THE  EQUISETUM IS  A  PLANT  MUCH  OLDER ..........
.........^ THAN  FERNS,  WHICH  ARE  IN  TURN  MUCH ^.........
........^~ OLDER THAN MOST TREES. IT'S LIGHT  GREEN ~^........
.......^~: TO  YELLOW  IN  COLOR  AND  IS  SLIGHTLY :~^.......
......^~:$               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.         #£#@$:~^..
.^~:$@#£##                                          ##£#@$:~^.
..^~:$@#£#                                          #£#@$:~^..
...^~:$@#£                                          £#@$:~^...
....^~:$@#                                          #@$:~^....
.....^~:$@                                          @$:~^.....