horsetail

American  

[hawrs-teyl] / ˈhɔrsˌteɪl /

noun

1. Also called scouring rush.  any nonflowering plant of the genus Equisetum, having hollow, jointed stems.

2. a horse's tail formerly used as a Turkish military standard or as an ensign of a pasha, the number of tails increasing with the rank.

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horsetail British  

/ ˈhɔːsˌteɪl /

noun

1. any tracheophyte plant of the genus Equisetum , having jointed stems with whorls of small dark toothlike leaves and producing spores within conelike structures at the tips of the stems: phylum Sphenophyta

2. a stylized horse's tail formerly used as the emblem of a pasha, the number of tails increasing with rank

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horsetail Scientific  

/ hôrs′tāl′ /

1. A member of a genus, Equisetum, of seedless vascular plants having a jointed hollow stem and narrow, sometimes much reduced leaves. Plants extremely similar to modern horsetails are known from fossils 300 million years old. The horsetails are the last surviving members of the phylum Sphenophyta, which dominated the forests of the Devonian and Carboniferous periods.

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Etymology

Origin of horsetail

First recorded in 1350–1400, horsetail is from Middle English horse tayle. See horse, tail ¹

Example Sentences

It’s fast and energetic; dancers hold pieces of horsetail, which they use to cut and slice through space with sharp, unified fervor.

From New York Times • May 25, 2023

Green shoots of horsetail as thin as yarn strands break from the ground below a tree’s barren branches.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2022

She’s currently drying yarrow, horsetail, silverweed, self-heal, calendula and chamomile for the winter months.

From The Guardian • Sep. 21, 2017

Budnick kept the mango tree and removed all else including fescue grass, horsetail plants and bamboo.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2017

Both watched Helen; with her hair drawn back into a low horsetail, she did look “darling,” just as Janis was saying.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen