.^==^$&£##                                          ##£&$^==^.
...^==^^&&                                          &&^^==^...
.....===$£                                          £$===.....
.^==^$&&&&                                          &&&&$^==^.
.^==^$&£##                                          ##£&$^==^.
...^^=^&£#               (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      &^^^==....
.^^^^^==$&          EVENTUALLY SPREAD THIN.         &$==^^^^^.
.^==^$&£##                                          ##£&$^==^.
.^==^$&£##                                          ##£&$^==^.
......^=^&                                          &^=^......
.^==^$&&&&                                          &&&&$^==^.
.^==^$&£##                                          ##£&$^==^.