This month’s herb of the month is an ancient, primitive plant. Horsetail, or shavegrass (Equisetum arvense), is a type of ancient perennial fern belonging to the Equisetaceae family. The name Equisetum is derived from the Latin equus, meaning “horse,” and seta, meaning “bristle.” This plant has been around for about 350 million years – since the Devonian Period of the Paleozoic Era, a time when the first tetrapods (land-living vertebrates) and the oldest known vascular plants in the Northern Hemisphere appeared. By the end of the Devonian, ferns, horsetails, and seed plants produced the first trees and forests on Earth. It now grows wild all over Europe and North and Central America in moist areas with temperate climates. It can even be found in riparian environments around Moab.
The plant grows separate sterile non-reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems from a perennial underground stem system and spreads quickly by these spores.
Horsetail has been used for a variety of purposes as far back as the Greek and Roman Empires, including to support kidney, urinary tract, bone, and connective tissue health. It’s one of the most abundant sources of soluble silica in the plant kingdom, which gives it its unique gritty texture and ability to polish metal. Because of this, it has gained the names “scouring rush” and “bottle brush.”
Silica is a compound made up of silicon and oxygen and is believed to be responsible for horsetail’s potential benefits for skin, nails, hair, and bones. It can help improve the formation, density, and consistency of bone and cartilage tissue by enhancing collagen synthesis and improving the absorption and use of calcium. Research suggests that horsetail may have bone healing properties by stimulating bone cells called osteoblasts (which handle bone synthesis) and inhibiting osteoclasts (which break down bone through resorption). These cells continuously remodel your bones to avoid imbalances that could cause brittle bones. Horsetail may be a useful herb for bone conditions such as osteoporosis, which is characterized by overly active osteoclasts resulting in fragile bones. This herb combines well with gotu kola, which improves the integrity of blood vessel walls, thereby improving blood supply to bone tissue, as well as nettle, another nutrient-rich, bone healing, blood nourishing herb.
Horsetail contains a high concentration of flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and mineral salts which also give it a mild diuretic action (meaning it increases the body’s excretion of urine through the kidneys). It has astringent properties, which help tonify the urinary mucous membranes, making this herb useful for treating urinary tract inflammation or infections. Current human research is limited, but horsetail may have potential as a therapy for kidney conditions such as urethritis and kidney stones.
Horsetail is also rich in antioxidants, molecules that protect your body from the effects of free radicals that can cause cell damage. These compounds may also help reduce inflammation, especially in hair fibers, caused by free radicals.
Horsetail has a moderate to strong grassy flavor, similar to the taste of green tea, with a mild earthy or salty taste, which is indicative of its high mineral content. This herb is often decocted as horsetail tea and infused into herbal vinegars and tonics. To make an infusion, pour one cup of boiling water over 2 teaspoons of dried horsetail and infuse for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy up to 3 times a day.
Dried horsetail can be found in our bulk herbs department.