Horsetail family facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Horsetail family |
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| Field horsetail (Equisetum arvense) | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Subclass: | Equisetidae |
| Order: | Equisetales |
| Family: | Equisetaceae Michx. ex DC. |
| Genera | |
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The Equisetaceae, often called the horsetail family, is a special group of plants. It is the only family left from a larger group called Equisetales. Today, only one type of horsetail plant, called Equisetum, is still alive. There are about twenty different kinds of Equisetum species found around the world.
The Story of Horsetails: Ancient Plants
The horsetail family is the only one that survived from the ancient group called Equisetales. Long, long ago, this group included huge, tree-like plants. These giant plants had ribbed stems, much like the horsetails we see today.
The oldest known relative of modern horsetails is a plant called Pseudobornia. It lived during the late Devonian period, which was about 375 million years ago. Pseudobornia is so unique that scientists place it in its own special group.
Fossil Horsetails: Clues from the Past
All the living horsetails we know today belong to the group called Equisetum. However, scientists have found many fossil species of horsetails that are not quite like the modern ones.
One group of these fossil horsetails is called Equisetites. This name is used for many different large horsetail fossils from the Mesozoic Era. It's likely that Equisetites includes some plants that were ancestors to today's horsetails. Some Equisetites plants might have even been able to grow thicker stems, which is a feature not seen in modern horsetails. These could be a separate group of horsetails that are now extinct.
Scientists also found fossil cones from horsetails, which they call Equicalastrobus. These cones probably came from the same plants that are named Equisetites.
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