,.........                                          .........,
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........               (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.          ........,~
=~,.......                                          .......,~=
§=~,......                                          ......,~=§
£§=~,.....                                          .....,~=§£
&£§=~,....                                          ....,~=§£&
#&£§=~,...                                          ...,~=§£&#