01-04-2016, 09:50 PM
(01-04-2016, 09:30 PM)Anton wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view."Cauda equina" means horsetail (Equisetum arvense).
I agree that the German word reads "Katzenschwantz", and not "Ratzenschwantz". Either way, it is not clear why it does so. Horsetail is "pherdeszagel" in AHD/MHD (see You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.), which means literally "horsetail".
"Katzenschwantz" is cat's tail, not horse's. There is MHD "Katzenzagel" (see You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.), which means the same thing ("zagel" means "Schwanz"), and it is Millefolium, i.e. yarrow.
Interestingly, the picture does not resemble neither horsetail nor yarrow, in my opinion
Probably the author knew the German common name of the plant at the time as cat's tail not horsetail. Common names can change from village to village
