DCHP-1 Online
prêle [< Cdn F < F l'aprêle < Ital. asperella, dim., ult. < L asper rough] 
n. See 1897 quote.
- 1813 (1897) [There were] sand-banks on which grow coarse grass, prêle. . . .
- 1859 (1863) Leaving the horses to feed on a fine meadow of the "Prele" or goose grass . . . I started to explore the valley. . . .
- 1897 Goosegrass is properly Polygonum aviculare and other species of the same genus, but what Henry means is the equisetaceous plant known to the voyageurs as prele, a name he uses beyond for horsetails of the genus Equisetum.
- 1925 [The] Horse-tail, or, as it is called by the French-Canadians, "Prele," used to be considered excellent horse-feed, and when possible the Hudson's Bay Company's brigades were halted where it was abundant.
- 1813 (1897) [There were] sand-banks on which grow coarse grass, prêle. . . .