horsetail(n = noun.plant) - perennial rushlike flowerless herbs with jointed hollow stems and narrow toothlike leaves that spread by creeping rhizomes; tend to become weedy; common in northern hemisphere; some in Africa and South America;
is a kind of fern ally
has parts: cone, strobile, strobilus
is a member of equisetum, genus equisetum
has particulars: common horsetail, equisetum arvense, field horsetail, equisetum fluviatile, swamp horsetail, water horsetail, equisetum hyemale, equisetum hyemale robustum, equisetum robustum, rough horsetail, scouring rush, equisetum palustre, marsh horsetail, equisetum sylvaticum, wood horsetail, equisetum variegatum, variegated horsetail, variegated scouring rush
1. A leafless plant, with hollow and rushlike stems. It is of the genus
2. A Turkish standard, denoting rank. [1913 Webster]
" Commanders are distinguished by the number of horsetails carried before them. Thus, the sultan has seven, the grand vizier five, and the pashas three, two, or one." [1913 Webster]
horsetail, n.
1 the tail of a horse (formerly used in Turkey as a standard, or as an ensign denoting the rank of a pasha).
2 any cryptogamous plant of the genus Equisetum, like a horse's tail, with a hollow jointed stem and scale-like leaves.
3 = pony-tail.
common horsetail, field horsetail, horsetail family, horsetail lichen, horsetail milkweed, marsh horsetail, rough horsetail, swamp horsetail, variegated horsetail, water horsetail, wood horsetail