Timothy (Phleum pratense) is a species of perennial grass native to most of Europe and northern and western Asia. It is also known as timothy-grass, meadow cat's-tail or common cat's-tail. It is a member of the genus Phleum, which consists of 17 species of annual and perennial grasses.
It is probably named after Timothy Hanson, a British farmer and agriculturalist said to have introduced it from New England to the southern United States in the early 18th century. Upon his recommendation it became a major source of hay and cattle fodder to British farmers in the mid-18th century.
Timothy has now become naturalised throughout most of North America, eastern Asia, southern South America, and Australasia.
Description
Timothy grows to 150 cm (59 in) tall, with leaves up to 50 cm (20 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) broad. The leaves are hairless, rolled rather than folded, and the lower sheaths turn dark brown.
It is a tufted grass, with no stolons or rhizomes. The ligule is short and blunt.
The flowerhead is 6–15 cm (2–6 in) long (or more, in some cultivars) and 6–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) broad, with densely packed spikelets, the glumes with a 1–2 mm long awn. It flowers from June until August. The stamens are purple.
Timothy can be confused with smaller cat's-tail (Phleum bertolonii); this is most easily distinguished by its acute, not blunt, ligules. Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) or purple-stem cat's-tail (Phleum phleoides) can also be confused.
It grows well in heavy soil, and is noted for its resistance to cold and drought, and thus ability to grow in dry upland or poor sandy soils. In pasture it tends to be overwhelmed by more competitive grasses. After cutting it grows slowly.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies have been distinguished by some authors, Phleum pratense subsp. pratense, and Phleum pratense subsp. bertolonii on calcareous grassland; however, the latter is now generally...
