I would
like to thank all those who have helped and encouraged me in my interest
in the giant horsetails. Foremost, I would like to thank
Dr. Richard L. Hauke for his seminal work in Equisetum
taxonomy, morphology, and reproductive biology. Dr. Hauke
has certainly laid a firm foundation for future subsequent students
of the genus Equisetum . I am also grateful for the help he
has given me through our correspondence. I would also like to acknowledge
the late Dr. Warren H. Wagner, Jr., who mentored Dr. Hauke in his studies
of Equisetum taxonomy, gave me early encouragement in my interest
in Equisetum, and showed me herbarium specimens of giant horsetails
for the first time. Furthermore, I would like to thank Richard
Moyroud, who shares my special fascination with the giant horsetails,
for sharing his knowledge and his plants. I express my gratitude
to Drs. Benjamin Ø llgaard and Callaway Dodson for
sharing their knowledge of giant horsetails in Ecuador. Special
thanks to Dr. Thomas Schoepke for sharing his photographs and observations
of the extraordinary population of Equisetum giganteum
near Arica, Chile. Special thanks also to Dr. Nur Ritter, for
sharing photographs and field observations of E. giganteum
from his floristic studies in Bolivian wetlands. Many thanks to
Anthony Pigott for sharing his plant material and his knowledge of Equisetum
. Special thanks to Miguel Porto for sharing his observations
of giant Equisetum in Costa Rica and his experiences with cultivating
these plants. I would like to thank Roy Vail for sharing his photographs
of giant Equisetum in Peru and Wim ° de Winter
for sharing photographs of giant Equisetum in Venezuela. I
am grateful to Michael Matus for his help with translation from Milde (1867) and other German language references.
I would also like to thank Reggie Whitehead for sharing his observations
of giant Equisetum in Ecuador. My thanks to Michael J.
Shields for sharing some interesting Equisetum references. Special
thanks also to Don Agostinelli for sharing plant material from his Equisetum
collection. Thanks to Debbie Wiley for providing me with greenhouse
space for growing giant Equisetum while I was a student at Virginia
Tech. Many thanks to José Delatorre for his assistance with
collecting Equisetum giganteum in the Quebrada de Tarapacá.
Thanks also to Drs. Alexander Niemiera and Robert Wright of Virginia
Tech for their insights into plant nutrition and the importance of micronutrient
fertilizers. I am grateful to Drs. Richard Roeper and Richard Bowker
of Alma College for encouraging me early on in my botanical pursuits.