Timothy Grass
Scientific Name: Phleum pratense L
Family: Poaceae
MORPHOLOGY
Habit and dimensions: perennial herbaceous plant, stoloniferous, 20-100 cm tall, very similar to Phleum bertoloni.
Stem: erect-ascending stem, glabrous, smooth, dark at the nodes, thickened at the base, forming dense tussocks.
Leaves: linear, with a wide blade of 8-12 mm, rough, ligule 2-5 mm long.
Flowers: the inflorescence is a dense, cylindrical, spike-like panicle, green, 8-12 cm long; the flowers are on almost sessile spikelets, single-flowered hermaphrodites with a bifurcated appearance due to glumes (2.5-3 mm) truncated and mucronate, with an apical awn. Blooms from March to October.
Fruits and seeds: the fruit is a caryopsis.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Present throughout Italy in stable meadows up to 2,000 m in altitude.
Photo: licensed freely by Saxifraga and Peter Meininger, Rutger Barendse



















