Useful Nova Scotia Plants

Plants

Dwarf Scouring Rush

Common name

Dwarf Scouring Rush

Latin name

Equisetum scirpoides

Characters

This horse tail is a coarse and prostrate plant with curling wiry stems. It appears not to have leaves or fronds. At each node is a sheath with 3 teeth. The spore-bearing surface is atop the stems.

Habit

Fern relative

Edible Portion

Not

Habitat

Alkaline, wooded and mossy banks

Geography

Annapolis and Cumberland counties, and on to Cape Breton

Used For

Scouring pots as it has silica crystals
Photo: Alain Belliveau