Horsetail
Equisetum species
(Equisetaceae)
Description:
The round stems of horsetails are rough in texture, grasslike
or rushlike, and grooved or furrowed. The ridges between the grooves are provided
with almost-invisible spikes. The most obvious characteristic of the stems of
horsetails, however, is the fact they are jointed (the plant is sometimes called
joint-grass). At each joint the lower part wraps around the outside of the upper
part.
Horsetails have no true flowers or seeds, but produce spores borne in fruiting bodies that somewhat resemble the tips of asparagus stalks and soon wither away in some species. Some horsetails have no branches at all (Equisetum hiemale); some species have whorls of needlelike, grooved leaves branching at the nodes (E. arvense); and in one species (E. sylvaticum) the branches are again branched. Part of the "root" of the plant is swollen and round.
Distribution:
Horsetails are an extremely common ground cover in moist
places.
Constituents:
These plants contain silica, aconitic acid, equisitine,
starch, several fatty acids, and even some nicotine. (Spoerke) Thiaminase is
an enzyme, toxic because it destroys thiamine. (Lewis)
Medicinal uses:
In the words of Simmonite-Culpeper, "The decoction, taken
in wine, provokes urine, and helps the stone and strangury." Thus the horsetail
has been used to promote the flow of urine if the flow is slow. In fact, Equisetum
is one of the herbal diuretics. (Lewis) It has also been used for the treatment
of diarrhea. (Simmonite-Culpeper and Spoerke)
In Washington state, Quileute swimmers rub themselves with E. hiemale to feel strong. The Cowlitz break up the stalks of the horsetail species, boil them, and wash hair infested with vermin in this water. The Quinault boil horsetails with willow leaves for a girl whose menstrual period is not regular, or use the juice for sore eyes. (Gunther) Horsetail has been used to cure internal wounds of the bowels, to treat obesity and dropsy, and to dissolve bladder stones. (Levy)
A Barefoot Doctor's Manual includes F. hiemale as one of the Chinese medicinal plants useful for conjunctivitis, inflammation of the lacrimal ducts, influenza and colds, dysentery, edema, hematuria, blood in stools, and menorrhagia.
Dr. John Christopher, a very popular herbalist whose herbal remedies are widely acclaimed, has decades of experience as a healer and teacher of herbalism. Some of his ideas are not accepted by the mainstream of modern medicine and science; his use of horsetail is a case in point. He uses it in his "bone, flesh, and cartilage" formula because of its silica, which, according to the theory of biological transmutation, is converted to calcium in the body and thus made available for use in growth, maintenance, and repair of skin and bones. This theory has a faintly alchemical tone to it, reminiscent of attempts to convert lead into gold. Of course, now it is actually possible to convert lead into gold, although the method is not economically feasible. So there may eventually be wide acceptance of the currently disreputable theory of biological transmutation, just as there have been "discoveries" by science of the validity of other practices from folklore, such as the use of quinine for malaria, cinchona for gout, rauwolfia for a tranquilizer, and penicillin in the form of bread mold for infections.
Warning:
While the external use of horsetail is probably safe, and it
is used for healing and drying sores as a poultice, pack, or ointment, continued
internal use is not a good idea. Although shoots are eaten when young, horsetail
should not be consumed raw because of the toxic thiaminase (which is, however,
destroyed by cooking). And persons with hypertensive disease and or other cardiovascular
problems should not consider using it.
Copyright © 1987 by Eleanor G. Viereck