Large numbers of Horsetails lined the walkway in a shaded, moist area. The simple structure of this evolutionarily ancient plant makes for complex patterns when part of a group. Could I make an interesting photograph here?
Horsetails, grasses, and leaves. The yellow leaves and delicate grasses add visual interest to the pattern created by the twig-like horsetail leaves. Click on the photo to go to its location on the Iris Arts website. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
Equisetum is an ancient plant whose ancestors have been found in the Devonian period about 400 million years ago. The only contemporary genus is made up of 15 species of horsetails and scouring rushes.
In the carbon-rich atmosphere of the Devonian and later, the ancestors of the horsetail were abundant and grew tree-size. Specimens have been found in fossils which provide evidence that they were major contributors to coal beds.
The horsetails have a simple and symmetrical structure, with thin branch-like leaves radiating—like spokes on a wheel—from regular joints on a single stem. The effect resembles a horse's tail. When several horsetails are overlapping, the myriad stem-like leaves act as a veil and, to my eye at least, gives the impression of light smoke in the plant.
Horsetail grouping with scattered plants. The detail of the background plants is "veiled" somewhat by the visual interlacing of the many fine "leaves" of the Horsetails. Click on the photo to go to its location on the Iris Arts website. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
It is a hardy plant that reproduces by spores and rhizomes, so it can be difficult to eradicate. The stems and leaves also accumulate minerals, especially silica, that give them an abrasive quality—good for scouring pans but bad for the intestines of animals who browse on them.
There were a few grasses, fallen leaves, and a couple of other plants in the grouping that I thought would help the composition. The patterns of the horsetails alone didn't seem to hold my interest well enough, and the "veiled" interior was difficult to capture. I played with shallow depth of field, but eventually decided on a photo that was sharp from near to far.
I wasn't sure at the time whether these photos would end up in Iris Arts, but this subject, on this day, was one I couldn't not photograph.
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