There are several varieties of this ancient plant. They grow in most temperate regions of the world, which is not surprising as there were forests of the giant ancestors of Horsetail covering the earth just several thousand years ago. Now, we know them as weedy wild plants that often grow in waste areas. Regardless, they are among the most useful herbs in the pharmacopoeia. Among other things, these plants are one of the best sources of the mineral, silica. If you harvest them from the wild, be sure the area has not been contaminated by water or soil pollution, and the Horsetails readily absorb toxins in their environment.

Dioscorides wrote of “Hippuris”, which derives from hippo or horse:

Hippuris grows in moist places and ditches. It has empty little reddish stalks distinguished by joints

growing one into another, and around them many thin rushy leaves. It grows to a height climbing on the trunks of trees standing nearby, and hangs on them. It is surrounded with many black filaments similar to the tail of a horse. The root is woody and hard, and the herb is astringent. The juice of it stops discharges of blood from the nostrils. A decoction (taken as a drink with wine) helps dysentery and induces urine. Pounded into small pieces (and sprinkled on) it closes bleeding wounds. Both the root and herb help coughs and asthma. It is said also that a decoction of the leaves (taken as a drink in water) joins openings of the intestines, and any cutting-apart of the bladder, and hernia. It is also called trimachion, anabasis, cheredranon, phaedra, itiandendron, gis, or schoniostrophon, while the Egyptians say pherphram, the Magi, cibus Saturni, the Romans, equinalis, and some, salix equinalis, anabasion, or ephudron.

Hippuris alterum has a stalk that is straight, even higher than a foot (as it were) empty, with shorter,

whiter, softer filaments at distances. Mixed with vinegar it heals wounds, having the same strength as that above. It is also called equitium, chedra, or gyon, while the Romans say salix equinalis.

Father Sebastian Kneip called Equisetum arvense “Shave Grass”:

The manifold and excellent effects of this medicinal herb cannot be too highly estimated. It not only cleanses the house-utensils, for which it is considered a first class polisher by all house#wives, but it also heals the interior and exterior infirmities of the human body.

On old injuries, putrid wounds, on all, even gangrenous ulcers, or caries, shave-grass operates in an extraordinary manner. It washes away, dissolves, burns out, as it were, all that is injurious. The herb is used either as decoction for ablutions, bandages, vapours, and compresses, or it is wrapped up in wet cloths and laid on the suffering part.

The services rendered to the interior parts by the shave-grass, are still more manifold. Its tea purifies the stomach. A cupful is taken from time to time (not daily). It eases the pains caused by gravel and stone-disease, and above all relieves the sufferers who have difficulty in discharging their urine. For this it stands alone, is not to be replaced, and is invaluable. Shave - grass vapours, specially for this disease, are here only just hinted on. Exactly such diseases are frightfully painful —and so frequent! Take particular notice of The simple herb, which may be had without any trouble whatever! Such patients should take daily a cupful of shave-grass-tea, together with the required exterior application.

For bleedings, blood-vomiting, it counts among the first and best teas. Those who vomit blood should take it without delay. I know cases in which after four minutes even a perfect cessation took place. In cases of violent bleeding at the nose, such tea is drawn up through the nostrils. It operates in a contracting manner, and its effect is soon felt. Such as are visited with hemorrhages, I recommend to drink daily one or two cupful of this tea. There should be a sufficient supply of shave -grass kept in every home dispensary, so that in times of need, which often occur suddenly, it may be quickly at hand.

Brother Aloysius wrote of the same herb that it was useful for bladder complaints, painful bladder, gravel, stones, difficult urination, heavy bleeding, vomiting blood, nose bleeds, skin ulceration, suppuration, cancerous sores and as an astringent.

Fr. Künzle wrote:

Horsetail (Equisetum species) thrives in some fields and one cannot get rid of it; it has often bee condemned and angry perpetrators have evoked ghosts! But some of them have already long been resting in the graveyard. If he had collected the horsetail in good time, dried it and used it, he would still be alive and perhaps still grow as old as the Rabbi from Bascher, who would not make his last will before he has seen the Falknis mountain green in summer and white in winter for ninety times.

Pastor Kneipp called the herb “Zinnkraut“ and prescribed it for external use against all the rotting wounds, or sitting over steam, against suffering from stones; I have seen for myself how an 86- year-old man recovered from the most terrible suffering from stones after a single steam remedy session and then afterwards he lived for many more years. The horsetail heals the strongest blood flow and Hematemesis taken as tea in a very short time, almost instantly.

Later in the Germanic tradition, Maria Treben wrote extensively on this plant:

ln early spring the brown fertile stems with a terminal cone-like catkin containing the spores grow from the deep and creeping rhizomes. The green summer fronds grow later to a height of 40 cm. and resemble small, evenly built pine-trees. Horsetail grows in fields, on hedge banks and railway embankments. The ones growing on pure clay soil have the greatest healing qualities. Depending on the place it grows it has 3 to 16% of silicic acid which makes it so valuable. Of course the Horsetail growing on chemically fertilized ground should not be used. The Horsetail with the finest branches, the Wood Horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum) which grows on edges of woods and copses, has medicinal properties too.

ln popular medicine Horsetail was much esteemed in old times, especially for its blood-staunching effect and its success in kidney and bladder trouble. But with time rts values were forgotten. lt was no other than our great and popular herbalist Abbé Kneipp who put the Horsetail back to its important place. He declares it as "uniquely irreplaceable and invaluable" for bleeding, spitting of blood, bladder- and kidney disorders, gravel and stones. "For old troubles", he says, "foul wounds, even cancer-like growths and ulcerated legs, Horsetail is of great value. lt cleanses, clears up and burns away everything bad, so to speak. Often the moist, warm plant is placed into moist cloths and applied to the affected parts."

The Swiss Abbé Kuenzle says that all people from a certain age on should drink a cup of Horsetail tea every day all year round and all pain caused by rheumatism, gout and nerves would disappear and every person would have a healthy old age. He tells of an 86 year old man who was relieved from stones which had caused him a lot of pain, by taking Horsetail steam baths and who still lived for many years. He also states: "This plant, taken internally as a tea, will stop the strongest haemorrhaging and vomiting of blood in a short time, yes, almost immediately."

For painful bladder catarrh and cramp-like pains there is no better remedy than a decoction of Horsetail, if one wraps oneself in a bath robe and allows the hot steam of the decoction to work into the bladder for 10 minutes. Repeat several times and it soon will bring relief. Old people who suddenly have trouble urinating, together with pain, because the urine is not expelled or does so only drop-wise, will find relief through the hot steam of Horsetail, rather than having the doctor use a catheter. For gravel and stones in the kidney and bladder hot Horsetail sitz baths are taken and at the same time warm Horsetail tea is sipped, the urine is held back and finally emptied under pressure. This way most stones will pass. On the strength of this suggestion I have received letters which confirm the above: Through this treatment the kidney stones were passed, the persons concerned are well and without any pain.

In cases where other diuretic means failed, Horsetail helped, as for example in accumulation of water in the pericardium, pleura, or in kidney disorders, after scarlet fever and other bad infectious diseases with water retention. lt is an excellent remedy, internally and externally, for the whole kidney and bladder system.

For pyelitis a bath alone can work wonders. For this can be taken - and only for external use – the Great or River Horsetail (Equisetum maximum) that grows in bogs, on banks of rivers and has finger thick stems. An acquaintance of mine was in hospital with a bad case of pyelitis for weeks. Since there seemed no end in sight, she sent a letter to me. I advised her to take a Horsetail sitz bath. A few days later I received another letter: "You have saved my life. I am at home. The sitz bath took away all troubles and gave me new strength." The Great or River Horsetail is used for sitz baths only. The Field or Wood Horsetail is used for teas taken internally.

After a difficult birth young mothers sometimes experience visual defects, the reason, most likely, is an affected kidney. Sitz baths stimulate the kidney and take the pressure off the eyes, so that slowly the visual defects disappear.

The German physician Dr. Bohn highly praises this plant: "On the one side Horsetail is a remedy for haemorrhaging and on the other - and even more so - a kidney remedy. After drinking the tea, a large quantity of dark coloured urine is easily passed. For dropsy it is a quick, effective remedy." lf no other diuretic remedy works, all other herb teas are avoided and from 5 to 6 cups of Horsetail tea are sipped daily for 4 to 5 days (in persistent cases 6 days). Experience shows that in most cases the water passes.

For itching rashes, even if they are festering or scabby, washings and compresses of a decoction of Horsetail are helpful. Horsetail washings and baths are beneficial for inflammation of the nailbed, cracked feet, caries, old festering wounds, cancer-like growths, bony projections on the heal, fistulas, barber's itch and other herpes. The scalded herb, wrapped while warm in a cloth, can also be applied. For painful haemorrhoids and haemorrhoidal knots the pulp is used.

For persistent nose bleeding a compress made from the cooled decoction of Horsetail is applied. As a blood-staunching remedy it helps to stop bleeding of the lung, uterus, stomach and haemorrhoids. Of course stronger decoctions are required. Normally t heaped teaspoon per cup (1/4 litre) is used, but for bleedings 2 to 3 heaped teaspoons per cup are required. Horsetail together with Speedwell is a good preventive remedy for hardening of the arteries and for amnesia through its blood cleansing action. One can call it the best cancer prophylactic.

Horsetail tincture (see "directions") is an excellent remedy for sweaty feet. This tincture is rubbed into the well washed and dried feet and a cup of Horsetail tea is drunk on an empty stomach half an hour before breakfast daily. Foot baths are also good for sweaty feet (see "directions"). For dandruff, the hair is washed with a decoction of Horsetail daily and then the scalp massaged with a good olive oil and the dandruff will soon clear up.

A tea of Horsetail and St. John's Wort - 2 cups daily and a nonliquid meal in the evening will relieve bedwetting. This tea can also be used as a gargle for tonsillitis, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the mouth, stomatitis, and inflammation or bleeding of the gums, fistulas and adenoids in palate and throat. For white discharge in woman, sitz baths are used. Don't forget, Horsetail is one of the best remedies for chronic bronchitis and tuberculosis of the lungs. Through its silica content, the tea, if drunk regularly, helps heal the lungs and removes the general weakness.

Results of the latest research, according to the Austrian biologist Richard Willfort, justify the assumption that tumours are inhibited in their growth and finally eliminated through the use of Horsetail tea for long periods. This is also useful for polyps in the abdomen or anus. For greater benefit in both cases Horsetail steam poultices and sitz baths are used. These poultices are also useful for stomach pains, liver- and gallbladder attacks, bursitis and for painful congestions which press upon the heart.

On December 19, 1977 l received a call from an old farmer, who had a very painful, hard growth on the sole of his foot and was therefore unable to step on it. He spent a few days in hospital but was sent home again. I recommended Horsetail poultices which can even eliminate malignant tumours. I was quite surprised when on December 22, he called again telling me that the growth had disappeared. The skin still felt soft and flabby but the hard growth was gone. - A new miracle from God's pharmacy!

I have found through experience that the worst disc lesions insofar as they are not caused by a pinched nerve, often disappear very quickly through the use of Horsetail sitz baths. lf X-rays show degenerated vertebrae caused by age, there is no reason to suffer pain. The pressure of a kidney disorder pushes up ward and along the spine where it presses on the superficial nerves causing pain, as experience shows. Therefore it is the pressure of the kidneys and not the disc lesions which causes the pain. A Horsetail sitz bath because of its deep penetration relieves the pressure.

A 38 year old woman was under treatment for disc lesions for 3 years, but her pains became worse, her shoulders and neck area were so stiff that she could only get out of bed in the morning with the help of a bar her husband had fixed over her bed. At this time I met her at a lecture I gave. You will be quite surprised to learn that this woman lost all her stiffness and pain after only one sitz bath. This applies also for disc lesions caused by driving a tractor. The rattling movements do not harm the discs but the kidneys and immediately there is a pressure upward which Horsetail sitz baths relieve'

A lady from Switzerland had a stiff neck for years. Every year she took a cure which gave her only limited relief. By chance I met her. Skeptically she promised to take Horsetail sitz baths. Soon I received a call and this happy lady told me that after 10 minutes in the bath all the stiffness had disappeared. As I know, it has not returned since.

The great neurologist Dr. Wagner-Jauregg said in his writings: "two thirds of all mentally ill would not go to a mental home had they healthy kidneys." Up to now I have been able to advise many unhappy people who, through kidney disorders, suffered from depression, delusions and fits of rage and would have ended in a mental home but for Horsetail sitz baths. For these conditions besides Yarrow and Stinging Nettle teas, a cup of Horsetail tea mornings and evenings must be drunk.

For serious kidney disorders with all the accompanying symptoms, fresh Horsetail sitz baths should be used, the best, as mentioned previously, being the Great or River Horsetail. A 5 litre bucketful of herbs is needed for 1 bath (see "directions" and "sitz bath" under General information). For the sitz bath the kidney region must be under water - the bath must last 20 minutes! Do not dry yourself, but, still wet, wrap yourself in a bath robe and remain perspiring in bed for one hour. Only then, dress in dry night attire. The sitz bath water can be re-warmed and used twice.

DIRECTIONS

INFUSION: ¼ litre of boiling water is poured over t heaped teaspoon of Horsetail.

POULTICE: A heaped double handful of Horsetail is placed in a sieve, which is hung over boiling water. When the herbs are hot and soft, they are wrapped in a piece of linen and applied to the affected part. Keep absolutely warm!

SITZ BATH: 100 gm. of Horsetail are steeped in cold water overnight, the next day brought to the boil and added to the bath water. 20 minutes are required for a bath. Don't dry yourself, still wet, wrap up in a bath robe, remain perspiring in bed for 1 hour. The bath water must reach above the kidney region.

TINCTURE: 10 gm. of fresh Horsetail are macerated in 50 gm. of pure whisky. Keep in the sun or a warm place for 14 days. Shake daily!

PULP COMPRESS: Fresh Horsetail is washed well and crushed to pulp on a wooden board.

The French herbalist, Maurice Messegue also used Horsetail in his remedy for hemorrhoids. He recommended, Hipbaths of one handful of milfoil flowers, one handful of milk thistle roots and leaves, one handful of couch grass roots, one handful of lavender flowers, one handful of field horsetail and one handful of knot grass roots.

Sophie Hodorowicz Knab tells us of the Polish tradition:

There are nine different varieties of Horsetail found in Poland. Syreniusz recommended preparing it in wine for dysentery and bloody lungs. He also recommended it in the form of a bath, compress, or as a rub for wounds resulting from duels. It was used in the form of a grated powder mixed with water for ulcers on the liver and uterus, and mixed with wine for intestinal wounds and stomach ulcers.

Fr. Kneipp used it for internal bleeding and bloody emesis. The Gypsies of Poland added Horsetail to the feed of their horses to strengthen and improve their appetite.

Horsetail Herbal Bath (for rheumatism, neuralgia and excessive perspiration of the feet)

2 quarts water

1 cup Horsetail

Boil the Horsetail in the water and add to bathwater. Bath should not exceed 20 minutes in the evening.

Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel explain the Horsetail was an important herb in the medical traditions of the Ashkenazi Jews:

Horsetail was commonly found growing in the fields, meadows, glades and forests of the Pale betweent he World Wars.

In the Podolia region Equisetum arvense was used to promote urination.

In Shvartz-Timeh, Uman and Birzula a decoction of Horsetail was used to treat kidney disease.

In Shvartz-Timeh it was also used as a diuretic.

For tuberculosis, head colds and coughs, healers in Kiev, Anapol, Boshlov and Zvenigorodka gave their patients a decoction of the plant.

The same decoction was prescribed for shortness of breath in Zhitomir and for gout in Shvartz-Timeh, and for those who suffered from catarrh of the stomach, the folk practitioners of Broslev and Ladizhin offered them the same strong brew.

Folk healers washed wounds with an infusion of the plant in Titzev to protect them from infections.

In Ladizhin a compress soaked in a decoction of the plant treated eczema.

In Kharkov eczema-infected areas were exposed to a steaming plant decoction while the patient was simultaneously given a strongly brewed combination of horsetail and several other (unspecified) herbs to drink.

Healers in Shvartz-Timeh, Uman and Zvenigorodka, in an identical treatment to that found in Poland, gave those suffering from rheumatism and rheumatic pain a steam foot bath to treat the feet and other effected parts of the body.

To stop excessive menstrual bleeding, midwives in Monasterishtche and Kanev gave women the plant decoction to drink, To induce menstruation the same drink was given in Monasterishtche.

Midwives in Ulanov and Kolenivka also relied on this remedy to stop hemorrhaging during childbirth.

In Broslev midwives turned to the same brew for (unspecified) diseases of the uterus, a treatment similar to one attested in seventeenth-century Poland for ulcers of that organ.

In Khmelnik and Polona the decoction was also a well known styptic for staunching nosebleeds and bleeding in the throat

In Barditchev horsetail was a remedy against hemorrhoids, mirroring a treatment in Russian folk medicine.

In Letichev folk veterinary medicine sought the plant for treatment of bloody urine in cattle.

Igor Vileavich Zevin tells us of the Russian tradition:

Horsetail is found throughout Russia. Archaeological excavations reveal that the plant was popular many centuries ago as a healing herb. An old Russian manuscript refers to a “coughing disease” that affected a beautiful young maiden in the town of Ryazan. The situation was so bad that “blood dripped out of her mouth,” a probable reference to tuberculosis. The story describes how a local healer took some “shave grass, which was like sand and stones and gave it to the maiden. The sand and stones were placed on her chest, and the cough ceased.”

The description accurately conveys the abrasive nature of horsetail grass, which is rich in silica. In times past, horsetail was used to clean pots and pans. Although modern abrasives have replaced horsetail as a pot cleaner, millions of Russians still use it regularly as a medicinal herb.

Turning to the British, Gerard wrote of several varieties:

1. Great Horsetail riseth up with a round stalk, hollow within like a Reed, a cubit high, compact as it were of many small pieces, one put into the end of another, sometimes of a reddish colour, very rough, and set at every joint with many stiff rush-like leaves or rough bristles, which maketh the whole plant to resemble the tail of a horse, whereof it took his name: on the top of the stalk do stand instead of flowers clustered and thick catkins, not unlike to the first shoots of Sperage, which is called Myacantha: the root is jointed, and creepeth in the ground.

2. This small or naked Shave-grass, wherewith fletchers and comb-makers do rub and polish their work, riseth out of the ground like the first shoots of Asparagus, jointed or kneed by certain distances like the precedent, but altogether without such bristly leaves, yet exceeding rough and cutting: the root groweth aslope in the earth, like those of the Couch-grass.

Kinds of Horsetail

3. Horsetail which for the mot part groweth among corn, and where corn hath been, hath a very slender root, and single; from which rise up divers jointed stalks, whereon do grow very long rough narrow jointed leaves, like unto the first described, but thicker and rougher, as is the rest of the plant.

4. Water Horsetail, that grows by the brinks of rivers and running streams, and often in the midst of the water, hath a very long root, according to the depth of the water, gross, thick,and jointed, with some threads annexed thereto: from which riseth up a great thick jointed stalk, whereon do grow long rough rushy leaves, pyramid or steeple fashion. The whole plant is also tough, hard, and fit to shave and rub wooden things as the other.

5. This kind of Horsetail that grows in woods and shadowy places, hath a small root, and single, from which riseth up a rough chamfered stalk jointed by certain spaces, having at each joint two e of rough bristly leaves set one against another like the other of his kind.

6. The female Horsetail groweth for the most part in waterish places, and on the brinks of small rills and purling brooks; it hath a long root like that of Couch Grass, from which rise up divers hollow stalks, set about at certain distances with small leaves in roundels like those of Woodruff, altogether barren of seed and flower, whereof it was called by Lobel, Polygona fœmine semine vidua. So sayeth our author, but it is sometimes found with ten or more seeds at each joint; whence Bauhin hath called it Equisetum palustre brevioribus foliis polyspermon.

7. In some boggy places of this kingdom is found a rare and pretty Hippuris or Horsetail, which grows up with many little branches, some two or three inches high, putting forth at each joint many little leaves, clustering close about the stalk, and set after the manner of other Horsetails: towards the tops of the branches the joints are very thick: the colour of the whole plant is grey, a little inclining to green, very brittle, and as it were stony or gravelly like Coralline, and will crash under your feet, as if it were frozen; and if you chew it, you shall find it all stony or gravelly. My friend Mr Leonard Buckner was the first that found this plant, and brought it to me; he had it three miles beyond Oxford, a little on this side Evansham ferry, in a bog upon a common by the Beacon hill near Cummer-wood, in the end of August, 1632. Mr Bowles hath since found it growing upon a bog not far from Chislehurst in Kent. I question whether this be not the Hippuris lacustris quædam foliis mansu arenolis of Gesner: but if Gesner's be that which Bauhin in his Prodromus, pag. 24. sets forth by the name of Equisetum nudum minus variegatum, then I judge it not to be this of my description: for Bauhin's differs from this in that it is without leaves, and oft times bigger: the staks of his are hollow, these not so: this may be called Hippuris coralloides; Horsetail Coralline.

8. Towards the later end of the year, in divers ditches, as in Saint James his Park, in the ditches on the back of Southwark towards Saint George's fields, &c. you may find covered over with water a kind of stinking Horsetail: it grows sometimes a yard long, with many joints and branches, and each joint set with leaves, as in the other Horsetails, but they are somewhat jagged or divided towards the tops. I take this to be the Equisetum fœtidum sub aqua repens, described in the first place of Bauhin his Prodromus: we may call it in English, Stinking Water Horsetail.

9. Clusius hath set forth a plant, that he referreth unto the stock of Horsetails, which he thus describeth: it hath many twiggy or rushy stalks, whereupon it was called Iuncaria: and may be Englished, Rush-Weed: the leaves grow upon the branches like those of Flax: on the tops of the stalks grow small chaffy flowers of a whitish colour. The seed is small, and black of colour. The root is little and white: the whole plant is sweetish in taste.

10. Dodonæus setteth forth another Horsetail, which he called climbing Horsetail, or Horsetail of Olympus. There is (saith he) another plant like Horsetail, but greater and higher. It riseth up oftentimes with a stalk as big as a man's arm, divided into many branches: out of which there grow long slender sprigs very full of joints, like to the first Horsetail. The flowers stand about the joints, of a mossy substance, small as are those of the Cornel tree; in place whereof grow up red fruit full of some juice, not unlike to little Mulberries, in which is the seed. The root is hard and woody. This grows now and then to a great height, and sometimes lower. Bellonius writeth in his Singularities, that it hath been seen to be equal in height with the Plane tree: it cometh up lower, near to shorter and lesser trees or shrubs, yet doth it not fasten itself to the trees with any tendrils or clasping aglets; much less doth it wind itself about them, yet doth it delight to stand near and close unto them.

The Place.

The titles and descriptions show the place of their growing: the last Bellonius reporteth to grow in divers valleys of the mountain Olympus, and not far from Ragusa a city in Slavonia.

The Time.

They flower from April to the end of summer.

The Names.

Horsetail is called in Greek Hippuris: in Latin, Equisetum and Equinalis: of Pliny in his 15th book, 28th chap. Equisetis, of the likeness of a horse hair: of some, Salix equina: in shops, Cauda equina: in High Dutch, Schaffthew: in Low Dutch, Peertsteert: Italian, Coda di Cavallo: in Spanish, Coda de mula: in French, Queue de cheval: and Caqueue: in English, Horsetail, and Shave-grass.

Shave-grass is not without cause named Asprella, of his ruggedness, which is not unknown to women, who scour their pewter and wooden things of the kitchen therewith: which the German women call Kannenkraut: and therefore some of our housewives do call it Pewterwort. Of some the tenth is called Ephedra, Anobasis, and Caucon.

The Temperature.

Horsetail, as Galen saith, hath a binding faculty, with some bitterness, and therefore it doth mightily dry, and that without biting.

The Virtues.

A. Dioscorides saith, that Horsetail being stamped and laid to, doth perfectly cure wounds, yea though the sinews be cut in sunder, as Galen addeth. It is of so great and so singular a virtue in healing of wounds, as that it is thought and reported for truth, to cure the wounds of the bladder, and other bowels, and helpeth ruptures or burstings.

B. The herb drunk either with water or wine, is an excellent remedy against bleeding at the nose, and other fluxes of blood. It stayeth the overmuch flowing of women's flowers, the bloody flux, and the other fluxes of the belly.

C. The juice of the herb taken in the same manner can do the like, and more effectually.

D. Horsetail with his roots boiled in wine, is very profitable for the ulcers of the kidneys & bladder, the cough and difficulty of breathing.

As usual, Mrs. Grieve does much to clear up the confusion over common names in the British tradition of herbal medicine:

Botanical: Equisetum arvense, Equisetum hyemale, Equisetum maximum, Equisetum sylvaticum

Family: N.O. Equisetaceae

Synonyms---Shave-grass. Bottle-brush. Paddock-pipes. Dutch Rushes. Pewterwort.

Habitat---They are chiefly distributed in the temperate northern regions: seven of the twenty-five known species are British, the most frequent being Equisetum arvense, E. sylvaticum, E. maximum and E. hyemale. E. arvense, the CORN HORSETAIL, is a very troublesome weed, most difficult to extirpate from cultivated land. Many of the species are very variable.

The Horsetails belong to a class of plants, the Equisetaceae, that has no direct affinity with any other group of British plants. They are nearest allied to the Ferns. The class includes only a single genus, Equisetum, the name derived from the Latin words equus (a horse) and seta (a bristle), from the peculiar bristly appearance of the jointed stems of the plants, which have also earned them their popular names of Horsetail, Bottle-brush and Paddock-pipes.

Large plants of this order probably formed a great proportion of the vegetation during the carboniferous period, the well-known fossils Calamites being the stems of gigantic fossil Equisetaceae, which in this period attained their maximum development - those now existing being mere dwarfish representatives.

The Equisetaceae have an external resemblance in habit to Casuarina or Ephedra, and as regards the heads of fructification to Zamia (a genus of Cycadaceae). The Casuarina have very much the appearance of gigantic Horsetails, being trees with threadlike, jointed, furrowed, pendent branches without leaves, but with small toothed sheaths at the joints. They are met with most abundantly in tropical Australia, less frequently in the Indian Islands, New Caledonia, etc. In Australia they are said by Dr. Bennett to be called Oaks. The wood is used for fires, as it burns readily and the ashes retain the heat for a long time. The wood is much valued for steam-engines, ovens, etc., and the timber furnished by these trees is appreciated for its extreme hardness. From its colour it is called in the Colonies 'Beefwood.'

Though mostly inhabitants of watery places, flourishing where they can lodge their perennial roots in water or string clay which holds the wet, the Equisetums will grow in a garden near water, under a wall, or in the shade and will spread rapidly.

Description---The stems spring from a creeping rhizome, or root-stock, which produces at its joints a number of roots. Two kinds of stems are produced fertile and barren: they are erect, jointed, brittle and grooved, hollow except at the joints and with air-cells in their walls under the grooves. There are no leaves, the joints terminating in toothed sheathes, the teeth corresponding with the ridges and representing leaves. Branches, if present, arise from the sheathbases and are solid. In most cases, the fertile or fruiting stem is unbranched and withers in spring, almost before the barren fronds appear. It bears a terminal cone-like catkin, consisting of numerous closely-packed peltae, upon the under margins of which are the sporanges, containing microscopic spores, attached to elastic threads, which are coiled round the spore when moist and uncoil when dry.

The development of young Horsetails from the spores is similar to that of Ferns, germination and impregnation being effected in the same manner. The Equisitaceae are also propagated in a vegetative non-sexual manner by means of subterranean stolons and by tubers.

The barren summer fronds give off numerous, slender, jointed branches in whorls of about a dozen; in some British species, the fruiting and barren stems are often both unbranched.

A quantity of silica is deposited in the stems, especially in the epidermis or outer skin. In one species, E. hyemale (Linn.), the epidermis contains so much silica that bunches of the stem have been sold for polishing metal and used to be imported from Holland for the purpose, hence the popular name of Dutch Rushes. It is also called Scouring Rush, and by old writers Shavegrass, and was formerly much used by white smiths and cabinet-makers. Gerard tells us that in his time it was employed for scouring pewter and wooden kitchen utensils, and thence called Pewterwort, and that fletchers and combmakers rubbed and polished their work with it, and long after his day, the dairymaids of the northern counties of England used it for scouring their milk-pails. Linnaeus tells us that this species, among others, forms excellent food for horses in some parts of Sweden, but that cows are apt to lose their teeth by feeding on it and to be afflicted with diarrhoea. As a matter of fact, cattle, in this country, usually instinctively avoid these plants and would probably only eat them in the absence of better fodder.

The young shoots of the larger species of Horsetail, especially E. maximum (Lamk.) the E. fluviatile of Linnaeus - were formerly said to be eaten, dressed like asparagus, or fried with flour and butter. It is recorded that the poorer classes among the Romans occasionally ate them as a vegetable, but they are neither palatable nor very nutritious. Linnaeus stated that the reindeer, who refuses ordinary hay, will eat this kind of Horsetail, which is about 3 feet high and juicy, and that it is cut as fodder in the north of Sweden for cows, with a view to increasing their milk, but that horses will not touch it.

Several of the species have been used medicinally, and the older herbalists considered them useful vulneraries, and recommended them for consumption and dysentery. The FIELD HORSETAIL (E. arvense), the species of British Horsetail most commonly met with, is the one now generally collected and sold for medicinal purposes . It is common in cornfields and wet meadows, its presence being supposed to indicate subterranean, flowing waters or springs. In this species, the fruiting stems are simple, very rarely branched, appearing early in spring and soon decaying. The barren stems which appear later are branched, six to nineteen grooved, the angles rough and sharp, and terminate generally in a long, naked point; the joints are about 1 inch long and 1/24 to 1/16 inch in diameter, the teeth of the sheaths long and acute. The shoots have neither colour nor taste. The fertile stems are yellowish, shorter and stouter, somewhat succulent, with only two to five joints.

In warmer climates, and even in Lisbon, as E. debile and elongatum, they require the support of bushes to which they cling. They sometimes attain a great size as does E. giganteum, though they never reach the dimensions of the fossil Equisetaceae.

The rhizomes contain a considerable quantity of starch-cells.

E. sylvaticum, the WOOD HORSETAIL, which grows in copses and on hedgebanks, has slender, angular stems, 1 to 2 feet high, nearly smooth, ten to eighteen grooved. It is readily recognized by the elegant appearance of the whorls of recurved branches, generally twelve or more branches to a whorl, which are very slender, about 5 inches long, quadrangular and beset by several secondary whorls so that the plant resembles a miniature pine tree. The cones of the fertile stems are 3/4 to 1 inch long.

It is this species that Linnaeus informs us is a principal food for horses in some parts of Sweden. It is used medicinally in the same manner as the preceding species.

E. maximum, the GREAT or RIVER HORSETAIL, already mentioned, is found in bogs, ditches, and on the banks of rivers and ponds. It is the largest of the European species, the barren stems attaining a height of from 3 to 6 feet, sometimes nearly an inch in diameter. They are twenty to forty grooved, with numerous joints, pale in colour and smooth, the branchlets quadrangular. The fertile stems are quite short, only 8 to 10 inches high, but thicker; their cones, 2 to 3 inches long.

Part Used Medicinally---The barren stems only are used medicinally, appearing after the fruiting stems have died down, and are used in their entirety, cut off just above the root. The herb is used either fresh or dried, but is said to be most efficacious when fresh. A fluid extract is prepared from it. The ashes of the plant are also employed.

Medicinal Action and Uses---Diuretic and astringent. Horsetail has been found beneficial in dropsy, gravel and kidney affections generally, and a drachm of the dried herb, powdered, taken three or four times a day, has proved very effectual in spitting of blood.

The ashes of the plant are considered very valuable in acidity of the stomach, dyspepsia, etc., administered in doses of 3 to 10 grains.

Besides being useful in kidney and bladder trouble, a strong decoction acts as an emmenagogue; being cooling and astringent, it is of efficacy for haemorrhage, cystic ulceration and ulcers in the urinary passages.

The decoction applied externally will stop the bleeding of wounds and quickly heal them, and will also reduce the swelling of eyelids.

---Preparation and Dosage---Fluid extract, 10 to 60 drops.

Horsetail was formerly official under the name of Cauda equina and was much esteemed as an astringent. Culpepper quotes Galen in saying that it will heal sinews, 'though they be cut in sunder,' and speaks of it highly for bleeding of the nose, a use to which it is still put by country people.

Culpepper says:

'It is very powerful to stop bleeding, either inward or outward, the juice or the decoction being drunk, or the juice, decoction or distilled water applied outwardly... It also heals inward ulcers.... It solders together the tops of green wounds and cures all ruptures in children. The decoction taken in wine helps stone and strangury; the distilled water drunk two or three times a day eases and strengthens the intestines and is effectual in a cough that comes by distillation from the head. The juice or distilled water used as a warm fomentation is of service in inflammations and breakings-out in the skin.'

John K’eogh wrote of the Irish tradition:

A decoction of it taken internally stops excessive menstruation, dysentery, and all flows of blood. If it is pounded or crushed and applied to wounds, it stops the bleeding and any further inflammation. A decoction of the whole plant is good against cough and difficulty of breathing. The juice, if sniffed into the nose, will stop a nosebleed.

In the early American tradition, the Eclectics used Equisetum:

A decoction or infusion of the common Souring Rush acts as a mild and simple diuretic, and as such has been used in gravel, dropsical affections, irritation and inflammation of the urinary organs, strangury, suppression of urine, and other similar affections.

King’s Medical Dispensatory of 1898 tells us:

Botanical name: Equisetum arvense, Equisetum hyemale, Equisetum laevigatum

The plant Equisetum hyemale, Linné.

Nat. Ord.—Equisetaceae.

COMMON NAMES: Scouring rush, Horse-tail, Shave-grass.

Botanical Source.—This is a perennial plant, with simple, stout, erect, jointed, and hollow stems, marked with from 14 to 26 longitudinal furrows, the ridges rough with 2 rows of minute tubercles, growing from 2 to 3 feet in height, each stem bearing a terminal, ovoid spike. Frequently 2 or more stems are united at the base from the same root. The sheaths are from 2 to 3 lines long, from an inch to an inch and a half apart, ashy-white, black at the base and summit, short, with subulate, black, awned, deciduous teeth, which leave a bluntly crenate margin. The fertile plants are mostly leafless. The fruit is placed under peltate polygons, being pileus-like bodies, arranged in whorls, forming a spike-like raceme, from 4 to 7 spiral filaments surround the spores, which resemble green globules, and which roll up closely around them when moist, and uncoil when dry (G.—W.).

History and Chemical Composition.—This plant is common to the northern and western parts of the United States, growing in wet grounds, on river banks, and borders of woods, and maturing in June and July. Together with other Cryptogamia, this species abounds in the fossil remains of coal measures, indicating that they were once of gigantic dimensions, and formed a large part of the original flora of our globe. Silica enters largely into the composition of these plants, on which account they have been used to scour, rough, polish, etc.; 1.4 per cent of a brownish-green, semi-fluid fixed oil, easily saponifiable, was abstracted from this plant by F. J. Young, by means of petroleum benzin (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1886, p. 420). The plant left 18.2 per cent of ash, and proved to be free from tannin, alkaloid, or glucosid. Mucilage, sugar, and a soft, green resin were shown to be present. The equisetic acid of Braconnot was found by Regnault to be identical with aconitic acid. The whole plant is medicinal, and imparts its properties to water.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Diuretic and astringent. An infusion drank freely, has been found beneficial in dropsy, suppression of urine, hematuria, gravel, and nephritic affections; and has also been used with advantage in gonorrhoea and gleet. This drug has a specific action in irritation the bladder, and in dysuria with tenesmic urging, in the nocturnal urinal incontinence of children, and in urinal incontinence, the effect of cystic irritation, it is a very serviceable remedy. The infusion or the decoction of the green stalks is preferred. The ashes of the plant are very valuable in dyspepsia connected with obstinate acidity of the stomach, and may be given alone, or combined with powdered rosin, or hydrochlorate of berberine, etc. Dose of the pulverized ashes from 3 to 10 grains, to be repeated 3 or 4 times daily. The fresh juice may be given in 1 or 2 ounce doses, administered in water. Specific equisetum, 5 to 60 drops.

Specific Indications and Uses.—Cystic irritation; nocturnal urinal incontinence; tenesmic urging to urinate; dropsy; renal calculi.

Related Species.—Equisetum laevigatum, Braun, and Equisetum robustum, Braun, of the southern and western borders of our country, may be substituted for the above.

Equisetum arvense, Linné; Common horse-tail.—Canada to Kentucky and Virginia. This species puts forth its sterile stems after the appearance of the fertile ones. It has the medicinal uses of Scouring rush.

According to Tis Mal Crow, the Muskogee have traditionally considered Horsetail to be among their primary medicinal herbs (See his book, Native Plants, Native Healing for formulas):

Just by feeling the plant you get the idea that it makes a good emery board. The high silica content and hard outer skin makes it good for fingernails, toenails and skin.

The hollow tube stalk shows that it is good for problems with the tubes, including bronchial tubes, kidney, bladder and urinary tract tubes.

Horsetail generally grows where it is cold and wet. This indicates that it is used for colds, fevers, and lung problems associated with colds.

The joints along the stalk (and branches in Field Horsetail) look like joints with the connective tissue showing. This shows us that it is used for joint problems and connective tissue problems.

Horsetail is used to strengthen hair and tails and also encourage their growth. It is taken for hair that is brittle and breaks easily or split ends and for nails that split, crack and are weak…

For infections of the urinary tract and kidneys or bladder the top part of the plant is used. A tincture of the plant is preferred for this, but a tea can be used.

For gravel or stones of the kidney, gallbladder or urinary tract, you need to use horsetail root. It can be used either in tea or tincture form…

To help clear the lungs and bronchial tubes, and for colds, flu and fevers, a tea is preferred. Use the top part of the plant, the stems and branches to make a tea…

Whenever most people think of connective tissue, they think of the joints of the elbow and knee particularly. But connective tissues are found throughout the body. An example is the heart. People worry about cholesterol, blood flow, and healthy heart muscles, but even if you have good nerve and venous action in the heart and good muscle tone, poor connective tissue can cause serious problems. The problem is known as a quiet murmur of the heart. This is when connective tissue is weak and, as the heart beats, it is actually tearing itself apart. It sounds like it is beating itself to death. Horsetail is used to strengthen connective tissue throughout the body…

For most bleeding problems that are centered internally, a root tea should be used. This includes bleeding from accidents, heavy menstruation, and bloody piles or hemorrhoids.

For an antiseptic mouthwash, use the whole plant of Horsetail, root and stems combines, to make a strong tea.

He goes on to describe how Horsetail may be used to create and insect repellant and for various household uses such as a sandpaper or for cleaning.

Bradford Angier states:

The Paiutes burned the ground leaves and used the ashed for cankers and gum sores. The Shoshones did the same thing with the dried and powdered roots.

Peterson Field Guide for Medicinal Plants tells us:

Equisetum arvense

American Indians used plant tea for kidney and bladder ailments, constipation. Asian Indians consider the Field Horsetail diuretic, hemostatic. Root given to teething babies. Folk remedy for bloody urine, gout, gonorrhea, stomach disorders. Poultice used for wounds. High silica content. Also once used for tea for tubercular lung lesions. Shown to be valuable against inflammation, though scientific validity in question.

Warning: toxic to livestock; questionable for humans – disturbs thiamine metabolism.

Equisetum hyemale

Essentially the same as E. arvense, though this species is considered stronger by some authors. A folk remedy used throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

The herbalist, Michael Moore wrote:

These plants contain a lot of silica and calcium. If it has access to inorganic nitrates (fertilizer) it forms toxins. Good in mineral tea. Helps repair damaged tissues and worn out cells. Helps support cartilage. Can help prevent damage to lungs, kidneys, etc that are chronically inflamed. Helps with fractures.

From SPECIFIC INDICATIONS FOR HERBS IN GENERAL USE ,Third edition by Michael Moore:

EQUISETUM

Emphysema, to strengthen septum cartilage. Acute cystitis/urethritis with inflammation and irritation. Incontinence, while sleeping, from chronic cystitis (with Rhus aromatica). Incontinence in aged males with enlarged prostate, poor bladder control. Ureteralgia. Nephritis with edema. Rheumatoid arthritis. Menopause, with early osteoporosis symptoms (as a tea with Medicago sativa and Angelica sinensis). Prostatitis, with irritable bladder, dribbling. Blood serum levels: creatinine, moderate elevation, renal cause. Nutritional malabsorption in moderate parathyroid imbalances.

Plants for A Future states:

Equisetum arvense