Horsetail
Description
A nonflowering, grass-like plant of the genus Equisetum, such as Equisetum hyemale, found in wet, swampy soil. In medieval times, horsetail was imported from Holland. It was called Dutch rush and used for cleaning pots and burnishing metal. The green horsetail stems contain fine-grain silica with small angular fingers. They are used as an abrasive for polishing veneer, burnishing clay, and smoothing gesso grounds.
Horsetail plants were also traditionally used by Native American weavers as decorative overlay elements. While the green stalks lose flexibility and fall apart at their joints when dry, the rhizomes can be split and easily an used to sew decorative patters on cedar-root baskets.
Synonyms and Related Terms
Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush); ; padderok (Dan.; Schachtelhalme (Deut.); prêle (Fr.); sphénophyte (Fr.); asprele (Old French); paardenstaart (Ned.); sneller (Nor.); skrzyp (Pol.); Dutch rush; rough horsetail; shave grass; scrub grass; gun bright; snake rush; polishing rush; winter rush; evergreen rush; candock
Physical and Chemical Properties
- Height = 0.2 - 1.5 M
- Stems=hollow and jointed with vertical ridges
- Leaves = small and pointed growing in a whorl from each node
Additional Images
Horsetail Equisetum telmateia
Horsetail
Comparisons
Properties of Common Abrasives
Resources and Citations
- C.Powell, "The Use of Equisetum hyemale (PrÛle/Horsetail/Dutch rush) as an Abrasive in the Gilding Process on Wood" Conservation News 66:p.40, 1998.
- Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
- Wikipedia: Equisetum (Accessed Oct. 30, 2004 and May 2026)