Equisetum sylvaticum L.

vernacular woodland horsetail — species · Equisetaceae

USDA: EQSY
GBIF: 2687929
Rank: species

woodland horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum) — Platephotograph · Gennadiy OkatovCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & 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
GL Greenland Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native
SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: Low
Moisture use: Low
Fire: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -43 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 100 min.
Precipitation: 20–100 in/yr
pH range: 4–6.5
Root depth: 6 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 0.9 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Green
Fruit colour: Green
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: Moderate

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, sprigs, tubers

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/EQSY ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2687929 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z