Plants create compact and dense clumps, reaching a maximum height of about 30 cm.

Scouring Rush, a reference to its early use for cleaning pots, made possible by its high silica content.

Other common names include dwarf horsetail, sedge horsetail, prele faux-scirpe (Qué), tradfräken (Swe), dvergsnelle (Nor), trad-padderok (Dan), hentokorte (Fin), dwergholpijp (NL), himedokusa (Jpn), skrzyp arktyczny (PL).

Austria, Finland, Norway, Spitsbergen, Sweden, Greenland, St. Pierre and MiqueIon, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, N.W.Territories, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Isl., Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Alaska, US (Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin), W-Siberia, C-Siberia, E-Siberia, Amur, Ussuri, Japan, Novaja Zemlja, Kamchatka, N-European Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, C-European Russia, E-European Russia.

Within Equisetum scirpoides there are two subspecies: Identifiable as a horsetail by the upright, hollow, jointed, cylindrical stems with inconsequential and easily overlooked leaves.

Distinguished from other horsetails by its low, slender, wiry, unbranched stems and its small size.