PLANT: A hybrid horsetail: Equisetum x mildeanum in Perthshire

July 25, 2008:
This hybrid between Equisetum pratense and E. sylvaticum is a scarce plant known from only a few localities in Scotland but is rather more common in continental Europe. In the British Isles, E. pratense is largely restricted to Scotland but the other parent is much more common. The known localities for this hybrid are mainly montane ones. Along with Mike Porter, I saw and photographed it here in the Sronphadraig valley, near Blair Atholl, in a damp area close to a moorland stream.



It's main characteristic is a degree of secondary branching but much less than that in E. sylvaticum. It is often a small slender plant possessing a distinctive 'jizz'.





The site of E x mildeanum at Sronphadraig