equisetum

American  

[ek-wuh-see-tuhm] / ˌɛk wəˈsi təm /

noun

plural

equisetums, equiseta

1. any plant of the genus Equisetum, comprising the horsetails.

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equisetum British  

/ ˌɛkwɪˈsiːtəm /

noun

1. any tracheophyte plant of the genus Equisetum, which comprises the horsetails

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Other Word Forms

• equisetic adjective

Etymology

Origin of equisetum

1820–30; < New Latin; Latin equisaetum, equivalent to equi-, combining form of equus horse + saet ( a ) bristle + -um neuter noun suffix

Example Sentences

The houttuynia Chameleon, a leafy ground cover, is impossible to remove, much like equisetum, and both go wild in wet soils.

From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2019

Insipid milk, and lead-coloured butter, from equisetum fluviatile.

From North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 by Bache, Franklin

You know what lovely little fern or equisetum stalks of sapphire the filaments are; they beat me so, but they're coming nice.

From Hortus Inclusus Messages from the Wood to the Garden, Sent in Happy Days to the Sister Ladies of the Thwaite, Coniston by Ruskin, John

In the more damp and marshy places the bottom is covered with marsh trefoil, carex, smooth equisetum, and rush.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 5 "Hinduism" to "Home, Earls of" by Various

And there began a growth of rushes and equisetum and potamogeton that ended only with the drying of the pond.

From The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)