Family |
Equisetaceae
Equisetum telmateia
Ehrh.
Equisetum telmateia Ehrh.
(First published in Hannover. Mag. 21: 287 (1783); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. I nº 5; 1966, as Equisetum maximum Lam., syn. E. telmateia Ehrh.) (Plants of the World Online)
• Life-form & habit : Rhizomatous perennial horsetail with strongly dimorphic stems; fertile stems unbranched, robust, whitish, reaching or exceeding 1 m; sterile stems hollow, whitish, bearing numerous whorls of simple branches.
• Leaves : True leaves reduced and fused into nodal sheaths; sheaths brown on fertile stems, with 20–30 acuminate teeth.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers absent; reproductive structures are terminal strobili borne on the fertile stems. Mouterde notes that the fertile stems are unbranched, while sterile stems may rarely carry a rudimentary sporangial structure at the summit.
• Fruit : Fruits absent; reproduction by spores produced in terminal sporangial cones.
• Phenology : Spores in spring.
• Habitat & elevation : Loose, moist soils, especially along rivers and damp places, from the coastal belt to the middle mountain belt.
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from Nahr-el-Aouali, Hazmiyé, Nahr-el-Kelb, Beyrouth, Tripoli, Jba'a, ‘Abey, ‘Araya, Bikfaya, ‘Aïn Zehalta, Nahr Safa, Falougha and Bcharré.
• Native range : Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine.
• Diagnostic remarks : Recognized among the Lebanese and Syrian Equisetum species by its whitish dimorphic stems, with robust unbranched fertile stems and branched sterile stems, together with brown sheaths bearing 20–30 acuminate teeth. It differs from E. palustre and E. ramosissimum, both treated by Mouterde with green stems, by its pale, robust fertile shoots and the numerous-toothed sheaths. Mouterde used the earlier name E. maximum Lam., while POWO currently accepts Equisetum telmateia Ehrh. (Plants of the World Online)