Carpe Diem #149, Tsukushi (horsetail)

 

 Photo by Kim Willis found Here

I did a little research and confirmed that the horsetail is commonly found in Michigan, and a wide variety of other places.  I guess I need to examine my weeds more carefully.  Horsetail is a primitive plant that  reproduces by spores, not seeds, and spreads underground via rhizomes.  Both moose and goose will eat horsetail, though "horsetail stems and branches are covered with silicate deposits that keep many animals from eating them." [from the website linked above]  Interestingly, though, the plant is toxic to sheep, cows and horses.   This is not the European purple horsetail flower.

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primitive plant

do you remember a time

before wanton men

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primitive horsetail

with rhizome tuber and spore

still so complex

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moose and goose

disdain the cattle's warnings

dine on horsetail

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fine field of horsetail

moose laments his own scant stub

goose preens tail feathers

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amid the horsetails

orb weaver spins her new home

safe from cattle's jaws

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Carpe Diem #149