I have had a quick look at the links below and I reckon that the plant is
Equisetum hyemale. Thanks a million guys. You have been a great help to
me.There is no way I could have found out the plant names with out your help
(at least not with out a LOT of searching).
Thanks again,
Alan.

"mel turner" wrote in message
...
"Alan" wrote in message
...
Thank you for your help.I appreciate it.I thought it was a horsetail,
I'm
not sure why, but I'll try looking up Scirpus.
Thanks again,
Alan

It clearly is an Equisetum. I can see numerous distinct nodes along
the stems in your picture [lacking in Scirpus].

It's likely to be Equisetum hyemale; it's a commonly grown one
with unbranched stems as in your photo.

http://members.eunet.at/m.matus/
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/imaxxequ.htm
http://www.floridata.com/ref/e/equi_hye.cfm

"Iris Cohen" wrote in message
...
They grow in the Los Angeles area.

I'm not so sure the first one is a horsetail. It looks more like a
rush.
Look
up the genus Scirpus.

[snip]

cheers