Horsetail Equisetum, an ancient plant from a time before there were flowers

Horsetails growing alongside modern grasses in a seasonal marsh environment, coastal Northern California.
They are known as the "scouring rush," because they contain a gritty sediment which makes them ideal for scrubbing things like cooking utensils. Equisetum was commonly valued for its use as a cleansing agent for many centuries.
The fossil record shows that what we now refer to simply as horsetails, have been around since long before flowering plants existed.