Common Name:
VARIEGATED SCOURING RUSH
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
6
Coefficient of Wetness:
-3
Wetness Index:
FACW
Physiognomy:
Nt Fern Al
R.W. Smith
Wet calcareous meadows, both natural, as on wet shores, beaches, and interdunal settings, and artificial, as in borrow pits, roadside banks, and ditches.
This is a very uniform and narrow stemmed plant, often forming dense stands, but unfortunately, identification is complicated by the fact that it also commonly hybridizes with Equisetum hyemale (see below) and E. laevigatum (see discussion of E. ×nelsonii under E. laevigatum) and slender individuals of the hybrids can be difficult to distinguish.
Equisetum ×mackayi is a common hybrid of E. hyemale and E. variegatum, occurring on moist sandy shores and sand dunes of the Great Lakes and inland lakes, as well as stream banks, moist swales, and borrow pits. It was known as Equisetum ×trachyodon A. Br. in older literature.