Spring horsetails, multiple spectra

[otoien]

This is my favorite stage of the horsetails before they spread their fingers out.  Captured with three different cameras so no comparisons of the same frame here.

 

VIs, D500, 300mm f/4 PF

 

 

 

IR pass: 720nm (Lifpixel conversion) D40x with 135mm f/2.8 AIS

 

 

 

UV pass: Cassarit 50mm f/2.8 on ASI678MC, ZWB1+QB39 filters, recorded with ASICap on the phone.

 

[nfoto]

This looks like Equisetum sylvaticum  or E. pratense-- are those species present in Alaska?

[otoien]

Thanks for the comment, Birna, I immediately found this one, so I think that is a clear yes to both species: https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/fern/equsyl/all.html

 

"SPECIES: Equisetum sylvaticum

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : Wood horsetail is a circumboreal species [18,19,21,28].  In North America it is distributed throughout Alaska and Canada south to the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes states, New England, and North Carolina [5,14,33,36]."

also:

 

"Wood horsetail apparently hybridizes with meadow horsetail (E. pratense)"

 

[Nate]

Great shots! I was curious about the different stages of those, I've seen a variant around here, and mainly seen them in one stage.

[otoien]

Thanks Nate. They very quickly spread their fingers out that become long branches. Soon the birch forest floor will  have this super green carpet.

 

[Andrea B.]

Horsetails are one of my favorite plants.

That green carpet under the birches is so very beautiful.

 

I think it would be nice to add your horsetail photos as an entry in UV Other Botanicals to join the E. fluviatile and E. arvense we have there.

 

[otoien]

Thanks Andrea. I would not mind it represented in the formal section. I must take reservation that my botanical knowledge in this area is minimal, so we rely on Birna's classification here. Also be aware that the last image is from a different location (the Biological Reserve near our university) while the first ones were captured right outside my cabin,  so they might not necessarily the same species. However I found this page specific to Alaska, where E.  sylvaticum seems most similar to the ones above, although the images on that page appear to be from different stages? It is amazing to see how quickly they develop. It only takes a day to spread their fingers from the bud stage to something more similar to the last image. One could have wished for time lapse. Right now I have multiple stages around my cabin, but soon it will all be green velvet.