Equisetum hyemale subsp. affine

Common scouring rush, Common Scouring Rush

Family: Equisetaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Common scouring rush is a California native perennial found in coastal, northern, central, and southern California regions including the North Coast, Klamath Ranges, Sacramento Valley, Central Western California, and desert areas, occurring in streams, moist sandy, and gravelly areas at elevations below 2,500 meters. Unlike many horsetails, this species lacks branches and grows as a single, distinctively textured green stem reaching 60 to 210 centimeters tall. Its stems are scabrous (rough-textured) with pronounced sheaths 7 to 17 millimeters long, featuring two distinctive dark bands at the base and tip, and bearing 22 to 50 small teeth that generally fall away. The plant has a distinctive cylindrical, jointed structure typical of horsetails, with each segment featuring a characteristic ring-like appearance and a dark-banded sheath. Reproducing through spores rather than flowers, this ancient plant species produces green, spherical spores in cone-like structures with pointed tips.

Habitat: Streams, moist, sandy, gravelly areas

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, NCoRH, NCoRO, CaR, SN (exc Teh), GV, CW (exc SCoRI), SW (exc s ChI), Wrn, SNE, D

California counties: Ventura, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Sacramento, El Dorado, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Shasta, San Francisco, Kern, Monterey, Alameda, Tulare, Mendocino, Mariposa, Plumas, Siskiyou, Trinity, Lassen, Yuba, Marin, Inyo, Santa Clara, Sierra, Lake, Contra Costa, Placer, Del Norte, Tuolumne, Mono, Butte, Nevada, San Mateo, Modoc, Merced, Alpine, Tehama, Glenn, Napa, Stanislaus, Amador, Orange, Yolo, San Joaquin, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.