........«\                                          \«........
.......«\%                                          %\«.......
......«\%$                                          $%\«......
.....«\%$@                                          @$%\«.....
....«\%$@@                                          @@$%\«....
...«\%$@@#                (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                   #@@$%\«...
....«\%$@@                                          @@$%\«....
.....«\%$@                                          @$%\«.....
......«\%$                                          $%\«......
.......«\%         ..«\«.. IN MAGIC ..«\«..         %\«.......
........«\                                          \«........
.........« WHEN A  COLONY NUMBERS  HIGH ENOUGH,  IT «.........
.......... SLICES  THE  AIR   IN  THE  FOREST  INTO ..........
.......... SEPARATE  PLANES, A  FEW  CENTIMETERS IN ..........
.......... HEIGHT.  TIME  CAN  GET   DIFFRACTED  IN ..........
.........« THESE,   HITTING  EACH  IN  TURN   IN  A «.........
........«\      SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLE, AND       \«........
.......«\%          EVENTUALLY SPREAD THIN.         %\«.......
......«\%$                                          $%\«......
.....«\%$@                                          @$%\«.....
....«\%$@@                                          @@$%\«....
...«\%$@@#                                          #@@$%\«...
..«\%$@@##                                          ##@@$%\«..