土筆 / Horsetail

土筆（TUKUSHI）是可以讓日本人聯想到春天的植物之一。因為樣子如同從大地中生長出細長的筆一般，所以漢字寫成土筆。土筆是雜草的筆頭菜的胞子莖。薄茶色的莖生長到10～15公分後胞子就會飛散。因為這個畫面很能夠演繹出春天的季節感，作為素材常常用於照片或是插圖中。在北海道於五月初到五月下旬都可以看得到。

Horsetail (Tsukushi in Japanese) is a plant which tells us that spring has come. The stem of each horsetail grows independently from the ground, to a height of 10 to 15 centimeters. The top of the stem is a sporangium which releases spores into the air. The figure is like a brush standing up. This is why tsukushi in kanji characters literally translates to 'a brush from the soil (土筆)'. Horsetail illustrations or photos are sometimes used in mediums which give us the feeling of spring. In Hokkaido, the horsetail is seen in the beginning of May around Sapporo and the south of Hokkaido.