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Edible
Plants - Wild Survival Guide
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HORSETAIL
Equisetum
arvense /
EQUISETACEAE Horsetail family
Other
Common Names:
Scouring Rush, E. arvense: Common Horsetail
Description:
Equisetum: Annual or perennial, rush-like plant 5 cm to 15
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creeping,
mostly hollow stems with long, rounded grooves and without green
foliage; branches simple or in circular array. E. arvense: Silica
covered, stemmed perennial 5-30 cm high; fertile plant stems simple,
erect, short-lived; sheaths loose, pale with 8-12 brown lance-like
teeth; cylindrical spike 2-3 cm long; sterile plant is 1-6 dm long,
erect or ascending with slender branches in a dense circular array.
Location:
Equisetum: Widely distributed throughout North America; moist
places, swampy areas, sandy stream banks.
Season:
Fertile stems appear in early spring followed by edible sterile stems.
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Edible:
Young shoots and stem pulp. Horsetail is poisonous to animals hence
caution must be used if you eat this plant – best to use it to clean
pots and pans!
Preparation:
Young shoots are usable as a potherb, however mature stems are quite
stiff and contain silica. At this stage the tough outer tissue of the
stem can be peeled, exposing a sweet pulpy material that is eaten raw.
Notes
of Interest:
the early American settlers for scouring pots and pans used the
silicone |
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This plant has poisoned livestock, but is apparently harmless to
humans in small or moderate quantities. Equisetum palustre
is a species of horsetail, which contains toxic alkaloids and is a
well known livestock poison - its
branches are horizontal to drooping, rather than ascending. |
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