.....,~:*$ $*:~,.....
......,~:* *:~,......
.......,~: :~,.......
........,~ ~,........
.......,~: :~,.......
......,~:* (EQUISETUM) *:~,......
.....,~:*$ $*:~,.....
....,~:*$¤ ¤$*:~,....
...,~:*$¤¶ ¶¤$*:~,...
..,~:*$¤¶# .,~:~,. 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. #¶¤$*:~,..
.,~:*$¤¶## ##¶¤$*:~,.
..,~:*$¤¶# #¶¤$*:~,..
...,~:*$¤¶ ¶¤$*:~,...
....,~:*$¤ ¤$*:~,....
.....,~:*$ $*:~,.....