rootfast

Index / Search / Equisetum arvense

§1 Plant

Equisetum arvense L.

vernacular field horsetail — species · Equisetaceae

USDA
EQAR
GBIF
7924597
Rank
species
field horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Platephotograph · gwenbezodisCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and 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

· 1,448 counties across 46 states/territories
Legend Native · 1448 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
High
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
4–7
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, bare root, sprigs, tubers
§3e

Use & availability

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

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,448 counties across 46 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Alaska view state ↗ 22 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 7 N ▾
California view state ↗ 42 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 32 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 3 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 28 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 102 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 68 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 71 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 20 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 76 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Maryland view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 79 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 62 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 39 N ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 12 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 21 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 11 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 54 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 27 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 40 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 86 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 33 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 67 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 17 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 41 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 25 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 85 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 33 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 46 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 70 N ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 22 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/EQAR ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/7924597 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z