Microscopy Primer
Light and Color
Microscope Basics
Special Techniques
Digital Imaging
Confocal Microscopy
Live-Cell Imaging
Photomicrography
Microscopy Museum
Virtual Microscopy
Fluorescence
Web Resources
License Info
Image Use
Custom Photos
Partners
Site Info
Contact Us
Publications
Home

The Galleries:

Photo Gallery
Silicon Zoo
Pharmaceuticals
Chip Shots
Phytochemicals
DNA Gallery
Microscapes
Vitamins
Amino Acids
Birthstones
Religion Collection
Pesticides
BeerShots
Cocktail Collection
Screen Savers
Win Wallpaper
Mac Wallpaper
Movie Gallery

Brightfield Microscopy Digital Image Gallery

Horsetail Strobilus

Members of the genus Equisetum, horsetails are a type of hollow-stemmed plant that exhibits an extensive creeping root system. Sometimes alternatively known as horse pipes, mare’s tail, or snake grass, horsetails thrive best in damp environments, such as swamps, bogs, and stream banks.

Horsetail plants have a very ancient lineage that extends back some 200 million years. Similar to other primitive vascular plants, they exhibit an asexual reproductive structure, the sphenophyte strobilus, more commonly known as a cone. Unlike the better-known pinecone, however, the strobili of the horsetail plant may only contain one type of spore since they are homosporous. Horsetail cones, each of which encases many sporophylls within a single sporangium or case, form along the uppermost region of the plant’s branches. When the sporophylls are dispersed by the wind, they germinate into small, free-living gametophytes that may produce either male or female reproductive organs. If these gametophytes are exposed to enough moisture, the sperm cells are released from the male organs and swim through the water to fertilize female eggs, beginning the next phase of the plant’s life cycle.

Two different types of hollow-jointed stems are produced by the horsetail, both of which are maintained by food reserves stored in small tubers. These tubers are produced along the plant’s vast root system, which is actually comprised of rhizomes, subterranean horizontal plant stems that may penetrate deep into the soil. Due to the tenacious rhizomes, horsetails often form immense weed-like colonies in areas plagued by poor drainage, sometimes becoming a problematic species in orchards and fields. However, one variety of the plant, commonly known as the scouring rush, is commercially valuable. This type of horsetail stores a significant level of silica granules in its cells and is often used to produce abrasive powders for scrubbing pots and pans.

BACK TO THE BRIGHTFIELD MICROSCOPY IMAGE GALLERY

Questions or comments? Send us an email.
© 1998-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.
This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
Last modification: Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 02:19 PM
Access Count Since November 25, 2003: 32634
All of the images in this gallery were captured with a QImaging Retiga camera system.
For more information on these cameras, use the button below to access
the QImaging website:
Visit the QImaging website.
For more information on microscope manufacturers,
use the buttons below to navigate to their websites: