.......,-^                                          ^-,.......
........,-                                          -,........
.......,-^                                          ^-,.......
......,-^=                                          =^-,......
.....,-^=%                                          %=^-,.....
....,-^=%§               (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.          ##§%=^-,..
...,-^=%§#                                          #§%=^-,...
....,-^=%§                                          §%=^-,....
.....,-^=%                                          %=^-,.....
......,-^=                                          =^-,......
.......,-^                                          ^-,.......