......,~/^                                          ^/~,......
.......,~/                                          /~,.......
........,~                                          ~,........
.........,                                          ,.........
..........                                          ..........
..........               (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.          #&£^/~,...
..,~/^£&##                                          ##&£^/~,..
.,~/^£&###                                          ###&£^/~,.
..,~/^£&##                                          ##&£^/~,..
...,~/^£&#                                          #&£^/~,...
....,~/^£&                                          &£^/~,....