to treat superficial visual obstructions. Rootstocks and stems are sometimes eaten by waterfowl. Horsetails absorb heavy metals from the soil, and are often used in bioassays for metals. According to Carl Linnaeus, reindeer, which refuse ordinary hay, will eat this horsetail, which is juicy, and that it is cut as fodder in the north of Sweden for cows, with a view to increasing their milk yield, but that horses will not touch it. Taxonomy Linnaeus was the first to describe water horsetail with the binomial Equisetum sylvaticum in his Species Plantarum of 1753. In the same work, he also described the unbranched form of the plant as a separate species, E. limosum. References External links Equisetum fluviatile Water Horsetail at Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Equisetum fluviatile at World of Equisetum Equisetetum fluviatilis fluviatile Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Flora of North America Flora of Saint Pierre and Miquelon