Great Horsetail

 A lot has changed since a hundred million years ago, but not those aliens.




They are sporophores of the Great Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia). During the Cretaceous several kinds of vascular plants already existed. (Not here in Dordogne, the greater part of modern France was below sea-level.) Like the dinosaurs most of them have become extinct or, at least, have changed a lot, but not the Equisetum-family. Today you can find horsetails which look virtually the same as their ancient ancestors.



The sporophores of the Great Horsetail do not have any chlorophyll. Later this spring the green, vegetative stems of this plant will appear.