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§1 Plant

Equisetum fluviatile L.

vernacular water horsetail — species · Equisetaceae

USDA
EQFL
GBIF
2687937
Rank
species
water horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile)
Platephotograph · Jeannie Mounger source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Horsetail
Family
Equisetaceae Michx. ex DC.
Genus
Equisetum
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b

County-level range

· 401 counties across 25 states/territories
Legend Native · 401 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
30–55 in/yr
pH range
4.5–6
Root depth
6 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
3 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Green
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
None
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
None
Stratify
No
Propagation
sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 401 counties across 25 states/territories.

Alaska view state ↗ 22 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 24 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Maryland view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 52 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 4 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 8 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 12 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 50 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 25 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 43 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 2 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 69 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/EQFL ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2687937 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T09:28:40Z