Horsetail (Equisetum arvense): Traditional Uses & Safety

At a glance

Botanical name: Equisetum arvense
Family: Equisetaceae
Part used: Aerial Parts
Taste: Bland, Salty
Temperature: Neutral
Moisture: Dry

Taught in Eden's Table

Sprouts (grades K-2), Week 29

Our homeschool curriculum, one plant a week. Week 1 is free.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Avoid

While breastfeeding

Insufficient data; avoid prolonged use during breastfeeding due to thiaminase and silica concerns.

For children

Avoid under 12

Cautions

Contains thiaminase — avoid long-term without nicotinic acid; kidney disease caution; avoid with nicotine

General contraindications

Avoid — thiaminase concern

Stewardship

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is abundant globally but must be distinguished from toxic E. palustre. Sustainable to wildcraft from clean ground. Stewardship: a living fossil — 400-million-year-old genus — commands reverence for deep ancestry.

In the traditional record

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) — referenced by Dioscorides and Galen as a styptic and wound-healing herb, and detailed in Grieve's Modern Herbal as a long-standing European remedy for hemorrhage, urinary complaints, and the strengthening of bones and connective tissue owing to its high silica content.

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Take the free assessment Open Horsetail in the Apothecary

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.