...,~\†*&¶                                          ¶&*†\~,...
....,~\†*&                                          &*†\~,....
.....,~\†*                                          *†\~,.....
......,~\†                                          †\~,......
.......,~\                                          \~,.......
........,~                (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.          #¶&*†\~,..
.,~\†*&¶##                                          ##¶&*†\~,.
..,~\†*&¶#                                          #¶&*†\~,..
...,~\†*&¶                                          ¶&*†\~,...
....,~\†*&                                          &*†\~,....
.....,~\†*                                          *†\~,.....