The ancient horsetail family was once one of the dominant plants on our planet dating back to the dinosaurs when some varieties grew as large as pine trees. Today's, rough horsetail only grows up to five feet. It is native to North America, Europe, South Africa, and northern Asia. Native American communities have found a variety of medicinal uses for this ancient perennial.
About Rough Horsetail
Equisetum hyemale or rough horsetail is not a rush or a fern. It is a single surviving genus of a class of primitive plants that date back 350+ million years and has its roots as far back as the Devonian Period. Equisetum hyemale, commonly known as rough horsetail is primarily found in wetlands and near rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams as well as in moist forests and woodlands. It has been known to grow in 4 inches of standing water. This is a nonflowering rush -like evergreen that spreads by rhizomes to form colonies in the wild. The stems are rigid, rough, and hollow, vertically ridged and segmented, and are similar to bamboo's dark green stems. Each stem rises up from the rhizomes with tiny toothed leaves that are fused to the stem in an ash grey sheath. Each sheath is set off by thin, stem ringing black bands. The tips of the stems bear pine cone-like fruit heads that contain spores.
Medicinal, Ceremonial & Practical Uses
Many Native American communities including the Cherokee, Flathead, Iroquois, Mahuna, Thompson, and Menominee, made a decoction of various parts of this plant and use it as a diuretic to treat a variety of diseases from constipation to kidney disease; the Crow made a poultice to treat bladder and prostate pain. The Cree, Thompson, and the Quinault use a decoction of the plant to correct menstrual irregularities and the Menominee used a decoction of rushes after childbirth. The Okanagan-Colville use a decoction of the stems to treat children with sores and the Sanpoil used the stems like a straw to give medicine to infants. The Thomason and the Karok make a decoction from the stems to treat sore eyes. A decoction of the plant was also used to treat venereal disease.
The Karok used this plant to cleanse priests in the First Salmon Ceremony, and the Quileute and Hoh eat roots during medicinal ceremonies. The Blackfoot and the Cheynne treat horses with an infusion of this plant. The Chippewa burn the leaves to disinfect sick areas and bad spirits. Because of the high silica content in the stems of this plant, Native Americans also used this plant for sanding wooden objects and polishing arrowheads. The Costanoan used the roots to make baskets. The children of the Gosiyte and Havasupai use the stems as whistles.
Did You Know...
The stems of this plant contain a lot of silica and were used by early Americans for polishing pots and pans which is how they got another nickname, the scouring rush.
The genus name comes from the Latin words Equus meaning horse and seta meaning bristle.
In South Africa, this plant is known as snake grass.
Today it is used decoratively in water gardens.
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