.......~~^ ^~~.......
......~~^% %^~~......
.....~~^%¤ ¤%^~~.....
....~~^%¤@ @¤%^~~....
...~~^%¤@@ @@¤%^~~...
..~~^%¤@@# (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. ..........
.........~ ~.........
........~~ ~~........
.......~~^ ^~~.......
......~~^% %^~~......
.....~~^%¤ ¤%^~~.....