.~«;*¤§###                                          ###§¤*;«~.
....««;*§#                                          #§*;««....
.~«;*¤§§§#                                          #§§§¤*;«~.
.....«**§§                                          §§**«.....
.~;*¤§####                                          ####§¤*;~.
.~«;*¤§###               (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.         ###§¤*;«~.
.~«;*¤§###                                          ###§¤*;«~.
.....«*¤##                                          ##¤*«.....
.~«;*¤§###                                          ###§¤*;«~.
.«;*¤§####                                          ####§¤*;«.
.~«;*¤§###                                          ###§¤*;«~.