Equisetum arvense L., 1753

🇬🇧 Field Horsetail

🇫🇷 Prêle des champs, Queue-de-renard

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Monilophytes
Class: Polypodiopsida
Subclass: Equisetidae
Order: Equisetales
Family: Equisetaceae
Genus: Equisetum
Subgenus: Equisetum
Species: Equisetum arvense

Presence

Present.

Conservation status

Red List (Metropolitan France): LC Least Concern
Red List (Europe): LC Least Concern

Notes

Possible confusion with E. palustre L., 1753, whose first branch internode is shorter than the corresponding sheath, while that of E. arvense is longer.

Possible confusion with E. telmateia Ehrh., 1783, whose stems have sheaths with more than 15 teeth, while those of E. arvense have sheaths with less than 15 teeth.

The following infraspecific taxa are accepted:

E. arvense subsp. alpestre (Wahlenb.) Arcang., 1882; ¹
E. arvense subsp. arvense L., 1753: diploid (2n = 216), P.

Hybridizes with:

E. fluviatile L., 1753 to produce E. × litorale Kühlew. ex Rupr., 1845, P;
E. palustre L., 1753 to produce E. × rothmaleri C.N.Page, 1973;
E. sylvaticum L., 1753 to produce E. × lofotense Lubienski, 2010;
E. telmateia Ehrh., 1783 to produce E. × robertsii Dines, 2002.

Photographs

img/equisetum-arvense.webp — *Equisetum arvense* - Fetile stem

img/equisetum-arvense-2.webp — *Equisetum arvense* - Fertile stems

img/equisetum-arvense-3.webp — *Equisetum arvense* - Fertile stem sheaths

img/equisetum-arvense-4.webp — *Equisetum arvense* - Sterile stem

img/equisetum-arvense-5.webp — *Equisetum arvense* - Young sterile stem

img/equisetum-arvense-6.webp — *Equisetum arvense* - Sterile stem sheaths

Sources

Badré, F., & Deschatres, R. (1979). Les Ptéridophytes de la France : liste commentée des espèces (taxinomie, cytologie, écologie et répartition générale). Candollea, 34(2), 379-457. https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-880127
Christenhusz, M., Lansdown, R.V., Bento Elias, R., Dyer, R., Ivanenko, Y., Rouhan, G., Rumsey, F., & Väre, H. (2017). Equisetum arvense (Europe assessment) (errata version published in 2019). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2017. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/167857/161581375
Dines, T.D, & Bonner, I.R. (2002). A new hybrid horsetail, Equisetum arvense x E. telmateia (E. x robertsii) in Britain. Watsonia, 24, 145-157.
Elven, R., & Murray, D.F. (2008). New combinations in the panarctic vascular plant flora. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 2(1), 433-446. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41971656
Prelli, R., & Boudrie, M. (2024). Les fougères et plantes alliées d’Europe (2nd ed., p. 101). Biotope.
Tison, J.M., & de Foucault, B. (2014). Flora Gallica : Flore de France (p. 14). Biotope.

Previously accepted as E. arvense subsp. boreale (Bong.) Tolm., 1960, but this name is misapplied: the holotype corresponds to an unusual form of the type subspecies (Elven & Murray, 2008). ↩︎