Great Horsetail vs Wood Horsetail

Equisetum telmateia compared with Equisetum sylvaticum

Key Differences

• Great Horsetail is Least Concern while Wood Horsetail is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Great Horsetail	Wood Horsetail
Kingdom same	Plantae (растения)	Plantae (растения)
Phylum same	Tracheophyta	Tracheophyta
Class same	Polypodiopsida (папоротниковые)	Polypodiopsida (папоротниковые)
Order same	Equisetales (Хвощёвые)	Equisetales (Хвощёвые)
Family same	Equisetaceae	Equisetaceae
Genus same	Equisetum	Equisetum
Species	Equisetum telmateia	Equisetum sylvaticum

Evolutionary Relationship

Great Horsetail and Wood Horsetail share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Equisetum.

Conservation Status

Great Horsetail

LC — Least Concern

Wood Horsetail

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Great Horsetail	Wood Horsetail
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Great Horsetail

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.

Wood Horsetail

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Found across Europe (7 countries) and North America (Canada, United States). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden