Equisetaceae
Equisetum

Equisetum ramosissimum Desf.

First published in Fl. Atlant. 2: 398 (1799)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Temp. & Subtropical Old World, Ethiopia to S. Africa. It is a rhizomatous geophyte and grows primarily in the temperate biome.

Descriptions

Equisetaceae, E. A. C. L. E. Schelpe. Flora Zambesiaca. 1970

Morphology General Habit
Subterranean stems black, up to 3 mm. in diam., horizontal to erect, bearing roots and aerial stems up to 2 m. high with primary axis erect up to 5 mm. in diam., conspicuously longitudinally ribbed, with whorls of up to 14 scale leaves up to 1.1 cm. long, fused for most of their length, ending in free acuminate teeth up to 2 mm. long, often turning black with age, the apical portions frequently broken off.
Morphology Branches
Branches produced at the nodes up to 14 in each whorl, up to 13 cm. long, c. 1–1.5 mm. in diam.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Cones
Cones up to 1.8 x 0.5 cm., with a blunt conical apex; sporangiophores 1–1.5 mm. in diam.
[FZ]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/14828406/120183780

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Sources

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images