HORSETAIL
Its growing everywhere without human attention and offers gifts for speeding up healing, earning a well deserved spot in this list of plants for survival food and adding to our natural first aid kits
Horsetail has been used as an herbal remedy for centuries. Over the years, it’s had many names — pewterwort, toadpipe, snake grass — but its scientific name is equisetum arvense. Equisetum is derived from the Latin words equus, meaning “horse,” and seta, meaning “bristle.” The plant got its name because — you guessed it — it resembles a horse’s tail!
Horsetail has many uses in traditional herbal medicine. Science is also beginning to back up these claims.
Horsetail is a perennial plant and considered to be an ‘invasive’ species that originated from temperate regions. This plant produces two types of young shoots: fertile and vegetative shoots. Every year, starting in early spring, this wild edible will appear in many watery areas.
History and Cultural Relevance of Horsetail:
Horsetail (Equisetum sp) is a remnant of a time before humans, a time before flowers and birds. A time when everything was much slower, more primal; the vibration of the earth resonating deep and low. Horsetails, along with their cousins the ferns, were some of the first plants to evolve on land after the mosses and liverworts. Some say that long before the trees, horsetail forests were dominant on earth and species towered to over a hundred feet high.
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is an herbal remedy that dates back to ancient Roman and Greek times. It was used traditionally to stop bleeding, heal ulcers and wounds, and treat tuberculosis and kidney problems. The name Equisetum is derived from the Latin roots equus, meaning "horse," and seta, meaning "bristle." Rhizomes used in basketry by Native Americans.
Horsetail is known as kheh dyè' to the Gwichʼin Frist Nation peoples of what is now Canada and known as Eireaball Capaill to my Celtic ancestors. Horsetail has many names in Irish, one is Leaganacha Malartacha which means ‘changing form or property’ referring to its ability either heal or harm you, depending on how you use it. This is related to the chemical Thiaminase contained in horsetail which (if consumed regularly) can deplete Thiamine-B1 and Potassium in the body. Thus, while traditionally used medicinally by many cultures, it is also traditionally advised that prolonged use of horsetail (E. arvense) is also not advised.
If you take horsetail on a regular basis, you should also take a quality multivitamin or at least a B complex supplement daily.
Traditions also advise not alcohol regularly while taking horsetail because horsetail may cause levels of thiamin to drop and they advise women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not take horsetail.
Irish folk medicinal uses include treating the common cold and cough. Reducing inflammation caused by Arthritis. Horsetail ointment to heal wounds, ulcers and hemorrhoids.
Some northern European and North American cultures used Horsetail to treat chilblains — small skin bumps that occur in cold temperatures.
Horsetail was also a favorite of the Native Americans. The Cherokee, Okanagan-Colville and Potawatomi peoples used Horsetail to support kidney health. Chippewa natives made a decoction out of Horsetail stems to treat painful or difficult urination. Crow and Flathead peoples used it as a diuretic, and the Blackfeet boiled it to make cough medicine for horses. And Young Horsetail shoots were a delicacy for the Coastal Salish People of the Pacific Northwest.
Traditionally it was also called ‘kettle-washer’ since due to its silica content is good for rubbing dishes or objects made of precious metals.
Here are some of the most common benefits of horsetail:
High in Nutrients and Antioxidants
One of the most interesting benefits of horsetail is how nutrient dense it is. Horsetail contains the following nutrients:
- Vitamin C
- B vitamins
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Electrolytes like potassium, calcium, and magnesium
- Iron
- Zinc
- Copper
Horsetail also contains Kynurenic acid, which reduces inflammation and pain, as well as silica, which supports collagen production. It also contains chlorophyll, known to fight cancer by preventing the cytotoxic and hyperproliferative effects of iron metabolism.
Additionally, research suggests that horsetail has antioxidant properties and may even inhibit cancer cell growth because of this.
Horsetail is rich in minerals — particularly silica, which is deposited in its stems. Our bodies use silica to produce and repair connective tissue and to accelerate the healing process of broken bones. Silica also plays a key role in maintaining our eyes, nails, skin, and — of course — our hair.
This plant that resembles a horsetail has been used for many centuries by people in various cultures and is known for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, coagulant, diuretic and astringent activity. It can be used to treat many types of inflammations and weaknesses from brittle bones to athlete’s foot, and infections by strengthening the body’s immune system.
Medicinal Benefits of Horsetail:
Isoquercetin, an active ingredient of horsetail, reduced flu symptoms in mice.
In cells, isoquercetin kills influenza A and B viruses — the most common viral strains that cause the flu. Horsetail is rich in isoquercetin and fights many viruses.
2. Treatment for Respiratory Issues
• When you have a bad cold, bronchitis or even tuberculosis, consider drinking horsetail tea. This herbal infusion may help you fight these afflictions, but also heal and build up the strength of your pulmonary system, boosting your defenses.
• This herbal tea may help to heal weakened lungs, repairing lung tissue and boosting defenses against future ailments. It acts as an expectorant, clearing the passageways of phlegm or harmful toxins that are causing disease.
• You may also gargle with a warm cup of horsetail tea to help treat and soothe a sore throat. Drinking this tea may bring relief to a nasty cough that could be causing throat irritation. This tea may help calm and soothe other respiratory problems such as asthma.
3. Fights Bacterial Infections
Kaempferol is one of the ingredients in horsetail that kills microbes.
Horsetail essential oil contains 25 compounds that were researched against the following bacteria:
• Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria resistant to many antibiotics. It commonly causes skin and respiratory infections and food poisoning
• Escherichia coli, which causes urinary tract infections (UTIs), diarrhea, and inflammatory bowel disease. Horsetail slows the growth and activity of this bacteria, which may justify its traditional use for UTIs
• Klebsiella pneumoniae, which may cause respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria resistant to most antibiotics that can cause life-threatening drug-resistant infections
• Salmonella, which causes food poisoning
Horsetail is notorious for the great amount of silica in each cup of tea. This makes this herbal infusion helpful when it comes to building up bone strength, helping to fix calcium to the bones and fight osteoporosis.
It is often recommended as a treatment for broken bones, helping repair the bone.
The amount of calcium and silicon in this herb are also great elements to help repair brittle nails, strengthening them all the while keeping them safe from fungal or any other type of infection.
5. Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis
Horsetail is being researched in people with rheumatoid arthritis. It improved symptoms and regulated the immune response in most cases in a study of 60 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Horsetail reduced inflammation (increased IL-10 and decreased TNF-alpha), which may be key for treating this disease.
Horsetail has long been used to help heal wounds faster. Horsetail ointment is usually applied directly to the wound.
Horsetail ointment (3%) improved wound healing in a study of 108 healthy women who had surgery to induce childbirth. Half of the women used horsetail ointment on the wound for 10 days, which reduced pain and healed wounds faster, with no side effects. Silica helps to seal the wound, while flavonoids prevent infections.
Additional human studies are needed to determine how safe and effective horsetail preparations are for wound healing.
Horsetail ointment (5% and 10%) increased wound healing in rats after 1 and 2 weeks. The 10% ointment completely healed the wounds and repaired the skin after 2 weeks.
A 5% horsetail ointment healed skin wounds in rabbits after 2 weeks. Horsetail also prevented infection and stopped bleeding.
• If you have a bad fall and twist something rather than break it, then horsetail tea may still help you as it is said to help heal torn tissues and cartilage. This is particularly helpful in the case of joint injuries as this infusion may help repair and strengthen them, clearing away inflammation.
• Drinking this tea could help improve tissue repair, regenerating connective tissues and collagen fibers. It may speed up recovery time helping to promote strength and elasticity.
Neuroprotective and improves cognition
Its complex antioxidant composition protects the brain and improves cognitive function. Antioxidative defenses weaken with aging and may cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
Powerful flavonoid antioxidants in horsetail (such as isoquercetin) enhance cognitive function and reverse memory loss. Horsetail used over a longer period of time improved cognition and memory in older rats.
Horsetail injections given to rats with nerve injury (sciatica) protected neurons. Horsetail may prevent or delay nerve loss after injury. Silica boosts the nerve-protecting effect and together with antioxidants aids in recovery.
Habitat of the herb:
Open fields, arable land, hedgerows and roadsides, usually on moist soils. One often finds horsetail in ditches and around ponds due to this sexual part of its life cycle. The gametophyte requires a wet environment to survive.
However, vegetative reproduction allows horsetail to wander into drier environments. Horsetail has a deep root system with rhizomes that can produce many terrestrial stems, giving it the appearance of a colony
It is theorized that horsetail may play an important role in the ecology of a watershed. Its value may be misinterpreted without proper research and understanding. One study of an Alaskan shrub Wetland reported that horsetail played an important role in removing and cycling certain nutrients (Marsh et al., 2000).
How to identify horsetail:
Distinguishing Features:
In early spring it has a brown stem with spore-containing cones on the top. Once the cones have released their spores this weed gives way to a different appearance by turning green. Horsetails have jointed stems with a ring of long, slender, tube-like pointed leaves with branchlets at each joint.
Leaves:
Long, slender, tube-like pointed leaves with branchlets at each joint.
The leaves of horsetails are arranged in whorls fused into nodal sheaths. The stems are green and photosynthetic, and are distinctive in being hollow, jointed and ridged (with sometimes 3 but usually 6-40 ridges). There may or may not be whorls of branches at the nodes.
Edible parts of Field Horsetail:
Strobil (the fertile shoots in spring)
Cooked and used as an asparagus substitute. They should be used when young but even so it is probably best to change the water, perhaps 3 - 4 times. One report says that they can be eaten raw, they are peeled and the shoot tip is discarded. It is said to be a very tedious operation and they should not be eaten raw in large quantities. Some native tribes liked to eat the young vegetative shoots, picked before they had branched out, and would often collect them in great quantity then hold a feast to eat them. The leaf sheaths were peeled off and the stems eaten raw - they were said to be "nothing but juice".
Roots - raw. The tuberous growths on the rhizomes are used in the spring. The black nodules attached to the roots are edible. It takes considerable effort to collect these nodules so it is normally only done in times of desperation. However, native peoples would sometimes raid the underground caches of roots collected by lemmings and other rodents in order to obtain these nodules.
Horsetail Eating
The new spring shoots of both the fertile and vegetative shoots of Giant Horsetail can be eaten as a spring vegetable, though the fertile shoots are preferred by many as they are more tender. To prepare the stems of either for eating, the fibrous leaf sheath must be peeled way from each node or joint. (Also note the ‘doctrine of signatures’ correspondence here: a strong jointed plant that is good for strengthening our joints). When eating the fertile shoots, make sure to discard the enlarged top portion, or strobile, as this will taste very astringent and unpleasant.
How to make horsetail tea:
Parts used: dried and barren stems, that appear in the summer
Quantity: 2-3 tsps/cup (250ml)
Water temperature: boiling (100ºC /212ºF)
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes (steeping)
Recommended dosage: 3 cups per day
Best paired with: dandelion, nettle
Infusing the Oil Using the Long Method (for topical application)
If you're using foraged herbs of herbs from your garden, rinse them, let them completely dry out to the point they are wilted and looking dried (you don't want any water in with your oil), and cut them in pieces into your jar.
Don’t quite fill the jar full of herbs, you want to leave a little room so the oil can completely cover and sit a little higher than the herbs. For the bulkier herbs like the pepper, I actually gave them a couple quick burst in a coffee grinder to break them up. I’m not really sure if this actually does anything more but to me it seemed like I’d get more out of them if they were broken up a bit.
Once you have the herbs in the jar, it’s time to add the oil. For this I typically use Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Almond Oil and sometimes Coconut Oil, it just depends on what I want the end results to be. Extra virgin olive oil has anti-inflammatory benefits, it moisturizes the skin, improves elasticity, and it has good fats and antioxidants to help heal the skin.
Again, do your research and decide what kind of oil you want to use, there are many kinds like almond oil, coconut oil, avocado oil and more to choose from.
Fill the jar with oil and seal with an airtight lid. Again, leave a little room at the top; you will be giving the jar a gentle shake every couple of days to move those herbs around. Depending on the herbs I'm using, I may open the container every few days and stir the contents and lightly smash the plant material. Use the end of a wooden or plastic utensil. If you do this, make sure when you to wipe around the edges of the lid and make sure there is no oil and you're getting a tight seal.
Now you’re going to place your herbs somewhere in the house where it isn’t too cold. If you live in a warm climate a warm kitchen window would be nice or the kitchen counter or a table in your office. Maybe the shelf in the closet is a good place for you, just don't forget about giving them a little shake each day.
The idea is to have them somewhere you won’t forget about them.
Leave them in the jar for 4 to 6 weeks. I know, you can’t wait - it’s really worth it in the end though. After having the herbs infusing your oil for the 4 to 6 week period - it’s time to strain the liquid.
Note: If desired, every 2 weeks you can strain the plant material, herbs, etc. and add new and fresh herbs (for added potency).
For straining, I use a piece of doubled up cheesecloth large enough to be able to hold and wrap the herbs so you can squeeze all the liquid out into a bowl. If it looks like it might be necessary, you can strain your oil twice.
Precautions for using horsetail include:
-Drink lots of water while taking horsetail
-Don’t take if you have a kidney problem
-Check with your doctor if you take medications as some may interact with horsetail (including causing potassium imbalance)
-Horsetail may lower blood glucose so diabetics should check with their doctor before use
-Take in moderation as it contains a chemical called thiaminase, which breaks down the vitamin thiamine. In theory, if taken long term this effect could lead to thiamine deficiency.
Similar Plants:
Scouring Rush:
Distinguishing Features:
This is easy to spot as the scouring rush stem is jointed, hollow, usually unbranched, and have rough longitudinal ridges. Scouring Rush can be distinguished from other horsetails in the state by its large size, rough unbranched stems, and pointed cones. Usually this species is easy to identify, although sometimes it forms sterile hybrids with other horsetails. When this occurs, it is possible to confuse the hybrid with one of the parent species.
Edible Parts:
The strobil (the fertile shoots in spring) can be cooked and used. The stalk can be used as an asparagus substitute and it contains polyphenolic flavonoids. Roots can be dried and then cooked. It is a good source of starch. Large quantities of the plant can be toxic. Scouring rush contains the enzyme thiaminase, a substance that can deplete the body of the vitamin B complex. In small quantities this enzyme will do no harm to people eating an adequate diet that is rich in vitamin B, though large quantities can cause severe health problems. The enzyme is destroyed by heat or thorough drying; do NOT to eat this raw.
Horsetail in the garden:
Horsetail is a powerful plant, rich in minerals, alkaloids and silica, used in some biodynamic preparations as well as extensively in herbal remedies. A natural fungicide, horsetail ‘tea’ is used to treat fungal problems including powdery mildew and black spot and makes a magnesium rich spray which can be applied directly to plants and as a soil feed. The spray helps to prevent damping off, rust, treats mildew on roses, make a root dip,is used to treat peach tree leaf curl and is an effective, purifying cleaner for greenhouses and cold frames. The silica in horsetail provides one of the 3 important biodynamic spray preparations (activators). Aptly described as the ‘crowd controller’, its role is to help fight against conditions that thrive in damp conditions such as debilitating moulds, or aphid attacks in greenhouses. It’s a classic example of using Nature to find her own solutions. It’s applied as needed from early spring through early winter and is easy for home gardeners to make.
For info on making horsetail based liquid soil amendments (biodynamic preparations):
https://www.biodynamic.org.uk/biodynamic-preparation-equisetum-508-field-horsetail/
https://www.growbetterveggies.com/growbetterveggies/2010/07/biodynamic-equisetum-preparation.html
For more information on horsetail:
I hope you found this information helpful and will try foraging for some horsetail and find peace of mind in the knowing that you are surrounded in food and medicine.
If we learn from Mother Nature and accept her open hand we can thrive and nurture our bodies in any and all situations (while staying guided by integrity and love).
We can align our wealth and health with the health and wealth of the living Earth and through merging with her regenerative capacity and inherent abundance we can become irrepressible. We can lift ourselves and our communities out of the widespread modern day ‘poverty of plant knowledge’ and in doing so become resilient enough to survive and thrive no matter what life throws our way.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Thanks, Gavin! I've been searching for it here on the land where I live but so far, no luck. These pics will help me in the spring.