What is the life cycle of a horsetail?
They have two separate stages in their life cycle. The one is the spore producing stage, which includes the vegetative stems. The other is called a gametophyte that goes through the sexual part of horsetail’s life cycle. The gametophyte requires a wet environment to survive.
Does Equisetum have secondary growth?
Secondary growth, by which girth increases annually, was characteristic of the extinct Calamitaceae and Sphenophyllales. In Equisetum the vascular strands are small and round, surrounding a large pith cavity.
What is unique about Equisetum?
Their stems, leaves and roots are all quite unique and makes the Equisetum species a very interesting group of plants. Their stems often appear to be formed by the combination of multiple smaller segments and they often resemble the stems of rushes. Horsetail leaves are unusual because they only a single vein.
How does horsetail reproduce?
Reproduction. Horsetails show a form of alternation of generations (a sexual phase alternating with an asexual one), in which each generation is an independent plant. Spores are produced in spore cases borne on stalks which form a fruiting, terminal cone on the fertile stem. The prothallium is the sexual generation.
How long do horsetail spores survive?
Spores can remain in the soil for many years, which again make this weed very difficult to eradicate. Horsetail is a very common wild plant, which will grow in almost any type of soil but prefers damp, sandy, partially shaded areas.
Is Equisetum a Pteridophyte?
Equisetum is a homosporous pteridophyte. The haploid spores germinate to form gametophyte.
Why is horsetail a living fossil?
We often get phone calls and questions about a unique group of plants. Horsetails can be considered living fossils. This group of plants is what is left of a group of plants that were as thick as forests and had relatives as big as trees that flourished during the Devonian period approximately 350 million years ago.
What is the most dominant phase in an Equisetum life cycle?
The sporophyte, or diploid, phase of the Equisetum life cycle is the dominant one and is represented by the herbaceous stems described above. Structures called strobili at the tips of fertile shoots house the developing haploid spores.
How does Equisetum help the environment?
The stems of equisetum contain high concentrations of silica and were once used to scour and clean various surfaces – hence the name scouring rush. Horsetail and scouring rush are most commonly found in poorly drained areas, such as roadsides, wetlands and drainage ditches.
What are the characteristics of horsetail?
Horsetail has several distinguishing characteristics. One such characteristic is horsetail’s hollow stems (Figures 1 and 3). Its stems also are jointed, can easily be separated into sections, and have siliceous ridges that make it rough to the touch.