The
Equisetaceae are a
family of
lower vascular plants—a
catch-all group for plants which aren't
monocots or
dicots—comprised of the
horsetails (aka
scouring rushes, though they're not actually rushes). They have specialized
vascular structures (
xylem and
phloem) which are decidedly more complicated than the simple
hydroids of
mosses, but they aren't included with the "higher" plants because they don't produce
seeds.
There is only one genus in the family, Equisetum, but Equisetaceae are found globally except for the fine island continent of Australia and its neighbor, New Zealand. If you're a dinosaur buff, you'll know there was a period when giant horsetails dominated the plantscape, which is why you can find horsetails native to pretty much anywhere (though not all horsetails in an area are necessarily native, since there's been a lot of shuffling around since the dinosaurs). Today there are only about 15 species of horstails left.