«~,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,~«
~,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,~
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,               (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.          ,,,,,,,,,~
«~,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,~«
/«~,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,~«/
§/«~,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,~«/§
%§/«~,,,,,                                          ,,,,,~«/§%
§%§/«~,,,,                                          ,,,,~«/§%§