Equisetum giganteum
Species of plant in the horsetail family
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Equisetum giganteum is a species of horsetail with the common name southern giant horsetail. It is native to South America and Central America, from central Chile east to Brazil and north to southern Mexico.
| Equisetum giganteum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Subclass: | Equisetidae |
| Order: | Equisetales |
| Family: | Equisetaceae |
| Genus: | Equisetum |
| Subgenus: | E. subg. Hippochaete |
| Species: | E. giganteum |
| Binomial name | |
| Equisetum giganteum | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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List
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Description
It is one of the largest horsetails, growing 2–5 metres (6.6–16.4 ft) tall, exceeded only by the closely allied Equisetum myriochaetum (up to 8 metres (26 ft) relying on surrounding plants' support. One form or variety has reached a height of 11 m (36 ft) in Venezuela,[3] and a height of 12 m (39 ft) in the Pantanal region of Brazil.[4] The stems are the stoutest of any horsetail, 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) diameter, up to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) in diameter in some populations),[5] and bear numerous whorls of very slender branches; as many as 56 scale-like leaves in a whorl[6] although it is unclear whether all of these would produce branches. These branches are not further branched, but some terminate in spore cones. Unlike some other horsetails, it does not have separate photosynthetic sterile and non-photosynthetic spore-bearing stems.
Populations from northern Chile with very stout stems up to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) diameter have sometimes been treated as a separate species Equisetum xylochaetum,[7] and gaining traction.[8]
