Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

Horsetail Classification

Horsetail, Equisetum L., is a genus of perennial plants found throughout the United States with the exception of Florida, Louisiana and Hawaii. Plants with names such as field horsetail, scouring rush and western horsetail, are considered a weed and an invasive plant. Their scientific classification places them with seedless plants.

Kingdom/Subkingdom
- Horsetail is classified as part of the plant kingdom. Under that kingdom, it is in the subkingdom tracheobionta, or vascular plants. Vascular plants possess a transportation system for water and nutrients comprised of roots, stems and leaves. Approximately 93 percent of plants fall within the vascular classification.
Phylum
- This classification, pterophyta, is one of two phylum consisting of all of the seedless vascular plants. The other phylum is lycophyta which includes club mosses, spike mosses and quillworts. Pterophyta includes whisk ferns, ferns and horsetail. These vascular plants reproduce by spores rather than seeds. They depend upon the wind to transport the spores.
Class
- Equisetopsida is the class of plants for the horsetail. This class, in the distant past, contained numerous species, some of which were as tall as trees. Today, one genus survives in the class: Equisetum L., or horsetail.
Equisetum L.
- Eighteen species comprise the horsetail genus Equisetum L., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture classification. According to fossil records, this genus is a candidate for the oldest living land plants. An example is the field horsetail, equisetum arvense L., which is a very invasive plant found not only in the United States and Canada, but also in Britain. It is a difficult plant to remove if unwanted.

Nature