##£**~^...                                          ...^~**£##
#£**~^....                                          ....^~**£#
£**~^.....                                          .....^~**£
**~^......                                          ......^~**
*~^.......                                          .......^~*
~^........                (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.         ........^~
^.........                                          .........^
~^........                                          ........^~
*~^.......                                          .......^~*
**~^......                                          ......^~**
£**~^.....                                          .....^~**£