horsetail

[ hawrs-teyl ]

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.

horsetail

/ 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

horsetail

/ 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of horsetail¹

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

Example Sentences

When autumn arrives, the horsetail plant prepares for a bitter-cold winter by swapping out some saturated fats for unsaturated ones.

From Science News For Students

The best horsetail hair comes from Latin America, at $25 a kilo.

From The Daily Beast

“But in the time of Downton they would have definitely slept on a horsetail mattress,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

This is a feature by means of which it is always possible to distinguish the Great Horsetail from any other species.

From Project Gutenberg

Sometimes in the case of large plants, cones have been known to occur on the tips of the branches of the Marsh Horsetail.

From Project Gutenberg

The Smooth Naked Horsetail is a common plant, specially by the sides of streams and pools.

From Project Gutenberg

The Variegated Horsetail is not exclusively maritime, however, for it sometimes grows by the sides of rivers and ponds.

From Project Gutenberg

Mike's Head is probably a popular name for the rush of the Equisetum species, known as "horsetail."

From Project Gutenberg