Marestail facts for kids

Marestail (sometimes spelled mare's tail) is a name used for different things, including several types of plants, some beautiful waterfalls, and even a kind of cloud in the sky! It's a bit like how the word "bat" can mean a flying animal or a piece of sports equipment. Let's explore what "Marestail" can refer to.

Plants Called Marestail

Several plants are known as Marestail, often because parts of them look a bit like a horse's tail.

Horseweed: The Common Marestail

One common plant called Marestail is Conyza canadensis. It's also known as Canadian Horseweed or Canadian Fleabane. This plant is often considered a weed, meaning it grows easily in many places where people might not want it, like gardens or farm fields.

Horseweed can grow quite tall, sometimes over 6 feet (about 2 meters) high! It has small, narrow leaves and produces many tiny, greenish-white flowers. These flowers turn into seeds that can be carried by the wind, helping the plant spread quickly. Because it grows so fast and spreads easily, farmers often try to control it in their crops.

Horsetail: An Ancient Plant

Another plant known as Marestail is from the Equisetum group. These plants are truly ancient! They have been around since the time of dinosaurs, more than 300 million years ago. Imagine plants that dinosaurs might have munched on!

Horsetails look very unique. They have hollow, jointed stems that look a bit like miniature bamboo or tiny green pipes. Some types of horsetail have branches that grow in a circle around the stem, making them look like a tiny, bushy tree or, you guessed it, a horse's tail!

How Horsetails Reproduce

Unlike many plants you know, horsetails don't grow flowers or seeds. Instead, they reproduce using spores, just like ferns. Spores are tiny, dust-like particles that can grow into new plants when they land in the right conditions. Some horsetail plants have a special cone-like structure at the top of their stems that releases these spores.

Hippuris: The Water Marestail

The plant genus Hippuris is also called Marestail, but these are aquatic plants, meaning they live in water. They are often found in shallow ponds, slow-moving streams, or marshy areas.

Hippuris plants have slender stems that grow up through the water, with small, narrow leaves arranged in circles around the stem. They can form dense mats on the water's surface, providing habitat for small aquatic animals.

Waterfalls with a Special Name

The name "Grey Mare's Tail" is also given to a couple of impressive waterfalls, likely because the long, flowing water looks like a horse's tail.

Grey Mare's Tail in Scotland

One famous waterfall is the Grey Mare's Tail near Moffat in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. It's a spectacular waterfall that plunges over 200 feet (about 60 meters) into a deep valley. The area around it is beautiful and popular for hiking.

Grey Mare's Tail in Wales

There's another waterfall called Grey Mare's Tail, Llanrwst in the Conwy valley in north Wales. This waterfall is also known for its scenic beauty and is a lovely spot to visit in the Welsh countryside.

Clouds Called Mare's Tail

Finally, "Mare's tail" can also describe a type of cirrus cloud formation.

Cirrus clouds are high-level clouds that look thin, wispy, and feathery. They are made of tiny ice crystals because they form so high up in the atmosphere where it's very cold. When these cirrus clouds are stretched out by strong winds, they can look like long, flowing strands, much like a horse's tail. These "mare's tail" clouds often appear before a change in the weather.