Priscilla Ballou wrote in message ...
I'm hoping someone here can give a name to a plant my sister and I loved
when we were little girls summering in the northern part of the lower
peninsula of Michigan.

I'm assuming it's a grass. All I remember of it is its stem --
clarification: my memory is that the plant was nothing but a bunch of
these stems. Each round stem (of maybe 1/8 - 1/4 inch diameter?) could
fairly easily be pulled apart into sections of about an inch or more (?)
in length. There were joints in each stem where the separation would
occur if you pulled. The stems were green (natch!) dark green, I think,
with bands of darker green maybe at the joints? I was 8 when we left
Michigan for the last time, and I'm now 51, so please bear that in mind
when trying to match this to a plant.

If I can find out what it is, I'd like to see if I can grow it in my
garden in Boston. It would nice to have a symbol of those happy summers.

Thanks!

Priscilla

Equisetum (horsetail, snakegrass, scouring rush). It is thought to be
a survivor from the Triassic and may be the oldest living genus of
vascular plant. Careful where you plant it: it is mightily persistent
and invasive, especially in moist places.

--
Chris Green