Where can I find info or pics of the wild herbs that are blooming in the Quebec province right now in May?

You mean "horsetail" - a literal translation of the Latin name, which is "equisetum". The most common one in North America is Equisetum arvense, which is the common horsetail or the field horsetail. The meadow horsetail, Equisetum pratense, is less common, and in our area (I'm in NY State) it is rare, so I wouldn't be picking it. There is E. sylvaticum, which as the name suggests, is found in the woods (wet woods and boggy areas in this case). This is also called the Bottlebrush or Wood Horsetail, and this one has spores maturing later than the first two (May and June as opposed to April or May). Then there is E. palustre, which is also known as Marsh horsetail, Snakepipes, or Cat-whistles. This is *very* rare by us, and very late-maturing (July and August). And E. littorale, the Shore horsetail, also not widely distributed.

The other types of horsetails tend to resemble a pipe with little flanges coming up the stem, and lack the branching that the first kind do. These are commonly called, "Scouring rushes", even though they are not rushes at all but equisetaceae, because they vaguely resemble true rushes (at least to the clueless, anyhow). They are thick and vertical. I won't trouble you with their botanical names, but these are loaded with silex, hence the common name, "scouring rush". These were once used to scour pots or wood, and my reference tells me that the cattle were fond of it in winter.

No offense, but you really shouldn't be picking and eating anything if you can't even identify it, and you really don't seem to know much about plants at all. Yikes. You shouldn't just go around putting stuff in your body without having a lot more education. *Your* education could be an expensive one, if you wind up trashing your liver or kidneys in the attempt to glean a free dietary supplement.

You are correct in understanding that common horsetail, Equisetum arvense, is supposedly helpful in preventing osteoporosis, BUT, my holistic health book ("The Green Pharmacy" by James A. Duke) says that aging and low estrogen levels decrease the body's ability to absorb silicon. Duke says that you should use this herb only in consultation with a holistic practitioner. AND, he doesn't advise juicing it, but making horsetail tea, and adding a tsp of sugar to the water along with dried herb, as the sugar will pull more silicon out. He says to boil it for THREE HOURS.

It would be a whole lot easier to eat parsley or to eat amaranth, bok choy, dandelion shoots or cabbage.

Get a reputable book on herbal remedies such as Duke's. My horsetail reference is "Ferns of the Vicinity of New York", by John Kunkel Smith. It has good drawings. For herbaceous plants, get a Peterson Guide for starters. But quit harvesting anything until and unless you know what you are doing, because you sound really dangerous to yourself. Stick with SAFE plants like dandelion, that you can easily identify. (but please don't confuse that with coltsfoot, which can be used medicinally but will likely destroy your internal organs and so is not worth the risk.)

Take a calcium pill, make sure you get plenty of vitamin D (at least 1,000 IU a day), and do weightbearing exercises.

French Canadian