Smooth Horsetail

Schaffner named this species Equisetum kansanum because he applied the name E . laevigatum to what we now know is the hybrid E . × ferrissii . The coarser-stemmed, occasionally persistent forms in the southwestern United States have been called Equisetum funstonii .

Aerial stems lasting less than a year, occasionally overwintering in the southwestern United States, usually unbranched, 20--150 cm; lines of stomates single; ridges 10--32. Sheaths green, elongate, 7--15 × 3--9 mm; teeth 10--32, articulate and usually shed early, leaving dark rim on sheath. Cone apex rounded to apiculate with blunt tip; spores green, spheric. 2 n =216.

Alta., B.C., Man., Ont., Que., Sask.; Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Mich., Minn., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., S.Dak., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wis., Wyo.; n Mexico including Baja California.

Cones maturing in spring--early summer. Moist prairies, riverbanks, roadsides; 1530--3500m.

Equisetum funstonii A.A. Eaton, E. kansanum J.H. Schaffner