Scientific Name
Phleum pratense L.
Common Name(s)
Timothy, common timothy, meadow timothy, field timothy, herd’s grass
Tribe / Family Name
Poeae
Flowering Period
June to August
Symbol
PHPR3
Description
Timothy is an introduced cool-season perennial bunchgrass with a swollen or bulb-like base; reproduction occurs from seeds and tillers. Culms usually range from 50–150 cm in height. Its inflorescence is a dense, spike-like panicle usually 3–20 cm long and cylindrical. Spikelets are elliptic, flattened, 1-flowered, and awned (the glume awns sometimes up to 2 mm long). Auricles are rare, but small if present. Ligules are up to 4 mm long, membranous, acute to obtuse, entire to erose (occasionally lacerate), and glabrous.
General Info
This short-lived species can be found in moist sites, streambanks, mountain meadows, ditches, pastures, rangelands, forests, roadsides, waste areas, and other disturbed areas.
Similar Species
Timothy looks similar to alpine timothy (Phleum alpinum). However, the seed heads of alpine timothy are 1–6 cm long, and the seed heads of timothy are 3–20 cm long. Also, the swollen or bulb-like base of timothy can be differentiated from the decumbent base of alpine timothy. Timothy may also look similar to meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis). To differentiate between them, observe the awns. Timothy has two awns that extend from the glumes, and meadow foxtail has a single awn extending from the middle of the floret. Timothy also has a swollen or bulb-like base and meadow foxtail does not.
Picture of growth habit.
Inflorescence is a dense, cylindrical, spike-like panicle.
Close-up picture of spikelet.
Close-up picture of the floret (left) and glume (right).
Close-up picture of membranous ligule.
Close-up picture of swollen or bulb-like base.
Illustration of timothy. USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. <i>Manual of the grasses of the United States</i>. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No. 200. Washington, DC.