This fantastic fern fern family will make even the most experienced botanists take a second look.

Though many members of this species look like grasses or bamboo with their upright, rigid, and often bushy appearance, but they are in fact ferns. This can be confirmed with morphological observations, all members of this group produce spores instead of seeds, and by genetic evidence. They serve as a great example of the vast morphological diversity of ferns.  

It is an ancient family dating back to the Paleozoic, but only a few dozen species remain world wide (Armstrong). Some shared characteristics of this group include whorled leaves that are greatly reduced in size, jointed stems, whorled arrangement of branches, and spore producing structures located at the apex of the stem in a strobili  ("Guide"). Together these characteristics make identifying members of this family very easy. 

Tennessee is fortunate to have two, distinct species of this family for us to enjoy: Equisetum arvense- commonly called Horsetail- and Equisetum hyemale-commonly called Scouring Rush.  

The more bushier of the two, E. arvense can often be mistaken for an overgrown lawn of grass, so it takes getting up close and personal with this fern to identify and truly appreciate it's beauty. 

When looking for this fern, it is best to look along disturbed marsh-like areas ("Guide"). In fact the photo to the left was found along side a country backroad and a small stream. If you want to further improve your chances of finding this gramineous fern, we recommend looking in these counties.

Once you have found a good potential habitat, you will need to look for some key characteristics that distinguish it from Equisetum hyemale. Perhaps the most conspicuous feature to distinguish E. arvense from E. hyemale is that the sterile frond of E. arvense is highly branched, giving it a distinctive horse tail-like appearance ("Guide"). Another feature to look out for are ephemeral fertile fronds; these will often grow to be around four to eight inches tall (Evans). 

The more bamboo-esque of the two species, Equisetum hyemale is quite an interesting and identifiable fern. 

E. hyemale grows in similar environments as E. arvense, often they can be found growing side-by-side ("Guide"). For more specific locations look here. 

A fun fact about E. hyemale, is that its stems are enriched with parallel ridges of silica; this gives rigidity to the stem but also makes a sturdy cleaning instrument for cast iron skillets, giving it the common name of Scouring Rush ("Guide"). 

As for distinguishing E. hyemale from E. arvense, there are two key characteristics to look out for. First, E. hyemale is less branched than E. arvense, often looking more like bamboo than a fern. Second, E. hyemale is monomorphic with the strobili located at the top of each frond ("Guide").

Armstrong, Joseph E. How the Earth Turned Green: A Brief 3.8-Billion-Year History of Plants. The University of Chicago Press, 2014.

Evans, A. Murray. Ferns & Fern Allies of the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains Association, 2005. 

Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Press, 2015.