£%/~:.....                                          .....:~/%£
%/~:......                                          ......:~/%
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%/~:......                                          ......:~/%
£%/~:.....                                          .....:~/%£
¤£%/~:....                (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                  ......:~/%
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%/~:......                                          ......:~/%
£%/~:.....                                          .....:~/%£
¤£%/~:....         .:~/~:. 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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%/~:......                                          ......:~/%
£%/~:.....                                          .....:~/%£
¤£%/~:....                                          ....:~/%£¤
@¤£%/~:...                                          ...:~/%£¤@